The Homecoming
by Patricia Louise
Summary: By suggestion, sort of a sequel to 'In the Beginning'. If there is enough interest this will be a look at how his family deals with a newly blinded Auggie on his first trip back to Glencoe as related from the different family members points of view and the homecoming scenes from 'In the Beginning'.
1. Scary Uncle Auggie

**By request for more Alexis stories, here is her take on meeting her newly blinded Uncle Auggie for the first time after he's been blinded. It might help new-to-me readers to read 'In the Beginning' before reading this story, but it's not 100% necessary.**

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Eleven-year-old Alexis Michelle Anderson sat cross-legged on the grass in the shade of the pergola in her grandparent's back yard. It was Memorial Day and her extended family was gathered for the annual get-together. She didn't mind the gatherings; it gave her an opportunity to see her father's brothers that she didn't get to see on a regular basis. Her Uncle Alan, a Marine just back from a war zone, was sitting drinking a beer on the deck and talking with his younger brother Uncle Austin. Her father's youngest brother, Uncle Auggie, was on the garden swing with Alexis' mother, Olivia. He, too, was just back from a war zone, but he'd been hurt in the war and had just completed a few months of rehab. Her father, Adam, had told her that her Uncle Auggie had been injured when a bomb had gone off near him. He'd lost his sight because of it.

Of her two uncles that she hadn't seen in a while, Alexis was most interested in her Uncle Auggie. She'd warmly welcomed her Uncle Alan as soon as her family had arrived. She'd run right up to him with open arms and he'd picked her up and swung her around in greeting. He'd done that with her younger sister, Megan, too. He'd just shaken hands with her older brother, Cody. Her father had warned her that her Uncle Alan might be a bit jumpy, but, to her, he didn't seem any different than he had the last time she'd seen him. But she hadn't yet greeted her Uncle Auggie. And she'd been at her grandparent's for almost an hour now.

Even though her family had gone to a nearby rehabilitation hospital for injured soldiers, Alexis wasn't quite sure how to approach her newly blind uncle. She was sad for the uncle she loved almost as much as she loved her father. She loved all of her aunts, uncles and cousins, but there was just something about her father's youngest brother that was special. Ever since she'd learned that her favorite uncle was now blind she'd tried to figure out what that might be like for him. She'd tried to walk around her house with her eyes closed; that had been harder than she'd ever imagined. She thought that not seeing must be very scary for her uncle. Her family had been advised to tell him who they were when they approached him; but Alexis wasn't sure if she should say, 'This is your niece Alexis' or just 'Hi. It's Alexis.' What if he didn't remember her? It had been almost two years since he'd last been home. Her brother, Cody, had just said 'Hi' to her Uncle Auggie and he'd known who her brother was but that didn't mean he'd know her, too.

After glancing at her Uncle Auggie and her mother again – they seemed deep in conversation – Alexis decided to wait a bit to greet her uncle. She turned her attention back to her handheld video game. The next time Alexis looked up from her game her mother and her Uncle Auggie were moving toward the deck; her uncle grasped her mother's arm as the ambled onto the patio. Alexis watched as her mother placed her uncle's hand on the back of one of the chairs at the round patio table and then her uncle's examination of the seat before he sat down. Then her mother moved off toward the table where all of the food was set out. Since others were heading toward the table also, Alexis got up and tucked her Nintendo DS in the pocket of her jean shorts and got in line. By chance she was a few people behind her mother and brother Cody. It seemed that her mother was fixing the plate for her Uncle Auggie since there were things on the plate that Alexis knew her mother didn't usually eat. As they moved down the buffet line, she heard their mother asked Cody to help her get Uncle Auggie set up with tableware, napkins and a bottle of beer from the ice filled cooler by the doors onto the patio. Alexis was surprised that her brother willingly did as their mother had asked. After quickly putting his own plate on the 'kid's' table, Cody grabbed a few napkins and a fork and spoon from the table and then headed toward the cooler and then off to where his uncle sat. He conversed for a few moments with his Uncle Auggie and then headed for the table where he'd set his plate a few minutes ago.

Once she'd filled her own plate Alexis sat down at the table off in the corner where her sister and cousins could join her. Cody had set his plate at the far end of the table and Alexis knew that he only did so because it was expected that he make sure the younger kids – his sisters, and male cousins Lucas and Ethan – behaved themselves so their parents could have time to themselves. Katie was the same age as Alexis, but she wasn't expected to sit with the kids and would sit with either her parents or grandparents. When she sat down, Alexis made sure to sit so that she could easily watch her Uncle Auggie. After her mother had gotten her Uncle Auggie set up, she'd gone back for her own plate and now, along with her husband, had joined Uncle Auggie at that table. Even though she was far enough away that she couldn't listen to the conversation between her father and her Uncle Auggie, Alexis could tell that her father was apologizing to his brother.

Alexis had an inkling what that apology might be about. She'd overheard her parents discussing her father's outing to the traditional Memorial Day Weekend baseball game. The outing had gone well until the game was, as close as Alexis could figure, at least halfway over, when her Uncle Auggie had made a scene after her father had said something that her mother had royally reamed her husband for saying and causing Uncle Auggie to strike out on his own and become lost. Alexis had been surprised at her Uncle Auggie's bravery; she'd been to the ballgames a few times with her parents and the stadium overwhelmed even her. Her father had said that he'd followed Uncle Auggie, observed him and finally convinced him to return to the game rather than taking a cab back here. Her mother had been very upset with her father and ordered her husband to apologize to his brother for his part in the incident. Her mother hadn't been at all sure that Uncle Auggie would forgive his brother. But, from her uncle's expression and calm body language, it seemed that Uncle Auggie had forgiven her father. And they had laughed together about some things while they ate.

After she'd ate her fill of what she'd served herself, Alexis decided to be brave and take some dessert to her Uncle Auggie. After depositing her paper plate in the appropriate trash container and her soda can in the recycling bin, Alexis crossed to the dessert table and put some of her cousin Kate's melon medley in one of the Styrofoam bowls and a couple of her chocolate chip cookies on a napkin and took them to her Uncle Auggie.

"Uncle Auggie. It's me, Alexis. I brought you some dessert," Alexis advised as she slipped in between her uncle and her mother. She pushed her uncle's empty plate out of the way and placed the bowl of fruit on the table before him and then placed the napkin with the cookies on it beside it.

"Thank you, Lexi," Auggie said as he turned his head toward his niece. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to come see me. What did you bring me?"

This was the first time that Alexis was close enough to actually see her uncle's eyes. At first Alexis didn't see anything different about them, and then she became aware of the lifelessness of them. They looked vacant. Once again she wanted to cry for her uncle; she choked back her sadness and said, "Some of the melon medley Katie made and a couple of chocolate chip cookies. I wasn't sure what you'd want," Alexis added shyly. "I'm not sure how to tell you what's where," the young girl said with embarrassment. She was sad that she hadn't paid more attention to that part of the meeting with the woman at the veteran's hospital when they'd gone over a month ago.

"That's okay, Lexi. I can figure it out," Auggie said reassuringly as he slowly, with fingers curled slightly under, moved his right hand toward the center of the table. His first encounter was with the cookies. "Two chocolate chip cookies," Auggie announced then moved his hand slightly to the left. "And this is the bowl of melon. Let's see," Auggie leaned slightly forward, "cantaloupe, watermelon, and that melon I can never remember the proper name for. And grapes?"

Alexis smiled with amazement as her Uncle Auggie rattled off what was in the bowl of fruit. "That's exactly right. And yes, grapes, too. I'm not even going to ask how you did that."

"Best not," Auggie said lightly. "I don't want to give all my tricks away. Now, do you have a hug for your Uncle Auggie?"

With only a moment's hesitation Alexis picked up her uncle's arm and guided it around her waist. She allowed him to pull her to him and she leaned in and brushed a light kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry about your eyes, Uncle Auggie," Alexis whispered in her uncle's ear.

"I'll be okay," Auggie whispered back to his niece as he released his embrace. "Thanks again for the cookies and fruit."

As her uncle turned his focus back to the bowl of fruit in front of him, Alexis glanced at her mother. Olivia nodded and smiled approvingly at her daughter. Reassured by her mother's approval, Alexis moved back toward the dessert table to get herself some of the cookies she'd made. After settling back down in one of the wrought aluminum patio chairs that was in the shade Alexis continued to observe her Uncle Auggie. Even though he had skillfully used a fork for his meal, he used his fingers to eat the melon balls and grapes. He'd just finished the last of the cookies when Aunt Jessica came to sit in the seat that Alexis's mother had left as she cleared the table of dishes and utensils. Alexis could tell by the tension in her uncle's face and body that he was not pleased that Aunt Jessica had come to talk to him. After what initially appeared to be a heated discussion, Uncle Auggie seemed to relax a bit. That surprised Alexis; of all her uncles, Uncle Auggie was the one that had never had much use for Aunt Jessica. Her mother frequently had unkind words for Aunt Jessica; and sometimes for Uncle Tony, too. That was adult stuff; Alexis tried not to pay too much attention to it since it didn't impact her much. Uncle Tony and Aunt Jessica had always treated her okay. And their children were fun to be around. Well as much fun as a sickly girl and little boys could be.

As she continued to watch the interaction between her Uncle Auggie and Aunt Jessica, Alexis noted that her uncle only slightly relaxed his demeanor. Only when Aunt Jessica left did he seem to completely relax. When her mother returned to the table a few minutes after Aunt Jessica left, she brought her youngest brother-in-law another beer. Uncle Auggie eagerly accepted the new bottle and took a long drink. Then he moved to where Uncle Alan sat in one of the patio couches at the far end of the deck. While the two brothers talked, Alexis moved to where her cousin Kate sat curled up in one of the other deck couches.

As the two young girls chatted away about the last school year, the new fashions, and their summer plans, Alexis kept as much of an eye on her Uncle Auggie as she could without being too obvious about it. But Kate noticed and called her on it.

"Lexi, I can't help but notice that you seem awfully curious about our Uncle Auggie today," Kate said in that soft voice of hers. "Is that because he can't see anymore?"

"It's that obvious that I'm watching him?" Alexis asked with alarm.

"Nah. No more than anyone else is. I'm curious, too. My Mom is, too; but Dad is trying hard not to look. I think he doesn't want to accept that his brother is hurt; that if he ignores it it will just go away. He's like that with me being sick."

"He is? I've always thought that he didn't much like Uncle Auggie."

"You should have been around when he found out about Uncle Auggie. He was scary mad. We were in his office at home when he got that call – I was in trouble and Mom and Dad were talking to me about my grades not being quite what they should be. I don't know if it was Nana or Papa that called, but he got all sad looking and Mom asked what the problem was. He said, 'Auggie's been hurt in Iraq. He's blind now,' and hung up on whoever had called. Mom looked at him with her mouth hanging open. Then Dad got a face that I've never seen before and hope never to see again. He pushed everything off his desk – in a fit of rage I guess – and just sat there with his head in his hands. Mom marched me out of the room, told me to go to bed, then went back in Dad's office and closed the door. I don't know what happened after that, but Dad was kinda extra touchy for a few days. Me and my brothers got to stay with our other grandparents a couple of times while Mom and Dad went to someplace named Hines to learn about blind stuff to help Uncle Auggie. They told me, Lucas and Ethan a few things, but Uncle Auggie doesn't seem to need much help.

"They didn't take you with them to Hines? My Mom and Dad took me and Cody there several times. I got some of what they told us, but I've forgotten some stuff too. Like I didn't remember how to tell him where stuff was when I took him some of your melon medley and some of my cookies. He seemed okay with me not knowing that. I saw how Mom helped him to the table when it was time to eat. I don't know if he can move around without someone helping him though. He was on the swing when we got here."

"And you got here before we did," Kate acknowledged.

"Yeah. I'm going to go get a soda. You want one?" Alexis asked her cousin. Poor Kate was beginning to look a bit tired. Whenever they'd been together in the last few months, Alexis had noticed that whatever sickness Cousin Kate had, seemed to be making her tire more and more easily. Alexis had never been told what was going on with Katie, but she had a feeling that it was something bad. But no one seemed to want to talk about it.

"No soda, but I'd like some tea. Thanks."

"Okay," Alexis said as she rose to head into the house. She knew there was a large pitcher of tea in the refrigerator. While she was in the house she took the time to use the bathroom. When she was washing up, Alexis heard someone rooting about in the kitchen. After she opened the door to leave the bathroom, she noticed her Uncle Auggie searching in the refrigerator for something. She paused for a moment wondering what she should do. Finally she decided to speak up and see if he needed some help.

"Uncle Auggie," she'd barely got the words out when he stiffened noticeably.

"What do you want, Lexi?" He sounded embarrassed.

"I just came out of the bathroom and thought I should announce myself," Alexis countered quickly. "Do you need help finding something in the fridge?"

Uncle Auggie huffed indignantly. Then his shoulders slumped and he said softly, "Yeah. I guess I do."

Alexis popped around the corner of the kitchen peninsula and approached her uncle. "What are you look … What do you need, Uncle Auggie?"

"I need another beer," Auggie stated firmly; almost as if he expected to be denied what he wanted.

Looking at the interior of the refrigerator Alexis pronounced, "There's none in here. I think Dad took all there is out to the cooler on the deck."

"Oh," Auggie said simply. Dejectedly.

As her uncle closed the refrigerator door, Alexis thought about what to do next; how to assist her Uncle Auggie without treating him like a child. Finally she had what she thought was a solution. Since he'd probably made it into the house on his own, getting back outside shouldn't be a problem. "When you go out the patio doors the cooler is on the left up against the house. You should be able to find it okay, but if you need some help I'll be back out in a couple of minutes. I'm getting a couple of fresh drinks for Katie and me."

"Thanks, Lexi. I think I can get myself a beer now that I know where they are."

He smiled warmly in Alexis' direction. She wasn't exactly sure what he was smiling about, but she knew the smile was genuine. After fixing Katie a tall glass of iced tea and grabbing a cold Diet Coke from the refrigerator, Alexis headed back outside. When she stepped back onto the deck, Alexis quickly scanned the yard for signs of her Uncle Auggie. He was back on the patio sofa beside his brother and happily sipping on a bottle of beer. Katie was still where she'd left her cousin ten minutes before; Alexis crossed to where her cousin sat watching the rest of the family and handed the cold glass of tea to her. The young girl graciously accepted the glass and took a long drink as Alexis sat back down beside her.

Alexis didn't stay on the sofa with her cousin for long. The women had begun to clear the debris of the meal and Alexis willingly did her part to help clear the tables of the perishable foods and put them in the refrigerator in the house or in other coolers filled with ice. Even her brother Cody, with some help from Cousin Ethan, did his part by taking the recycling and trash to the bins in the garage. After a bit Alexis stopped watching her Uncle Auggie as much and began to observe the goings on of the rest of her extended family. For the next several hours the family gathered in clusters, everyone talking with everyone else at some point in the afternoon. At some point every adult, except Uncle Anthony, sat with Uncle Auggie and talked to him. Alexis couldn't hear what most talked to Uncle Auggie about, but she could tell when the conversation disturbed him. Uncle Alan seemed to keep him supplied with beer; especially after Uncle Auggie looked disturbed. As the afternoon progressed Uncle Auggie worked his way back to the garden swing he'd been on when people had started arriving.

At the moment there was no one talking to him and Alexis thought about going over and talking to him. He finished the bottle of beer in his hand and dropped it to the ground beside the swing, and then rose from the swing and slowly moved off toward the house. Alexis watched as her Uncle Auggie veered off the path slightly and stumbled over the walk's edging. Even though she'd never seen him drink more than one or two beers in an evening in the past – with the number he'd consumed this afternoon – Alexis guessed he was probably trying to get to the beer cooler. At least that was the direction he was headed. Uncle Anthony was sitting nearby talking with one of his sons and rushed to his brother and reached out to steady him, but then commented, "There you go now, bro. Take my arm and I'll get you safely where you're heading. Where are you heading?"

Uncle Auggie shook his brother's hand from his arm and snapped, "I'm fine. I don't need yours or anyone's help to get to the beer cooler."

Uncle Anthony looked closer at his brother. "You're drunk," he observed.

"Maybe I am. So what? I'm sure as hell not driving so what does it matter? Now get out of my way." Uncle Auggie tried to push past his brother, but Uncle Anthony stood firm. Uncle Auggie stumbled a bit when Uncle Anthony didn't move out of his way. Uncle Anthony reacted to the stumble and once again reached out to steady his brother. This time Uncle Auggie didn't just shake his brother's hand off, but spun him around, pinned his arm painfully behind him and applied a choke hold with his other arm. Alexis jumped up thinking she should do something but stopped where she was when she saw Nana Abigail rush in their direction. In a very calm but firm voice, she said, "August let Tony go. He meant you no harm."

As everyone silently watched, a very reluctant Uncle Auggie loosened his grip around his brother's throat, and finally let the grip on Uncle Anthony's wrist relax. Once Uncle Anthony had moved out of the way, Uncle Auggie just stood there, fists clenched at his side. Nana Abigail spoke to him too quietly for Alexis to hear what was said. But after a few moments, as Nana Abigail talked, a little of the tension visibly left Uncle Auggie and his fists unclenched. He appeared to refuse his mother's offer of assistance and, with a determined look on his face, walked toward the house almost like he dared anything to get in his way. Even three-year-old Summer knew enough to get out of his way as he crossed the patio.

Alexis could see her uncle's body tense again with every step. That was a bit unnerving when he'd reacted badly to just a steadying hand from his brother – even though she knew that the pair of brothers had a history of ill-will between them – and Alexis wondered who her Uncle Auggie might explode at next. How did anybody know how to act if he wasn't going to react rationally? He'd been hurt so badly and it seemed so unfair to her.

She saw that her Uncle Auggie must have misjudged where the stairs were as he approached them and stumbled on the bottom step. A loud, "Damn it!" echoed off the back of the house. Uncle Auggie turned and sat, with his head in his hands, on the second step from the bottom; his body was visibly shaking. Once again Nana Abigail approached her son. Alexis couldn't hear what her grandmother was telling her youngest son, but she did hear what her uncle said. "No, Mom. I'm not okay. It's not going to be okay. It's never going to be okay. I'm blind – now and forever! I can deal with the blindness but I can't deal with pity or the loss of my independence. If I want help, I'll ask for it. Coming here and expecting to be accepted was a huge mistake." Rising from where he sat, Uncle Auggie climbed the rest of the steps, leaving his mother open mouthed at the base of the stairs. After he'd ploughed into a patio chair that wasn't tucked up under the patio table as he crossed the deck and he'd roughly shoved it out of the way, he yelled, "There. Everyone satisfied now? You've seen me stumble and fail."

No one said a word, and Nana Abigail started after her son. The glass rattled in the patio door both as he yanked it open and then again when he slammed it shut. Uncle Alan held up a hand to his mother, shook his head 'no' to her, and grabbed a couple of beers as he passed by the cooler. Uncle Alan entered the house and more angry shouts could be heard. Alexis couldn't make out what the two brothers were yelling at each other, but soon the yelling worked its way down to loud talking. Slowly, as the two men in the house talked loudly at each other, the rest of the family returned to normal conversation. Only it wasn't quite normal conversation – Uncle Auggie was the only topic of conversation.

Alexis wanted to do something to make her Uncle Auggie go back to being the Uncle Auggie she knew from before – the fun-loving uncle he'd been the last time she'd seen him two years ago – but she also understood that was not going to happen. If she did anything compassionate was she was going to irritate him even more? She didn't even know how to have a normal conversation with him now because their worlds were so far apart. It was like she missed him even when they were in the same house because she'd come to see this man – this injured uncle of hers – was a stranger. She didn't get war and violence. She didn't understand why her soft-spoken Uncle Auggie had to get hurt and come home like this. At that moment, she wondered what she could do to make the world a safer place, or at least her Uncle Auggie's world a safer place. Unknown to her, that thought would have a huge impact on her later in life.

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**Well? Would you like to see more in this vein? If so, let me know by making a comment. I've got Alan, Anthony and Adam chapters in my mind. Will attempt other family members if you'd like. Mom and Dad are probabilities, too. **


	2. Alan and Auggie

**I was quite overwhelmed by the support for a continuation of this story. Thank you. I counted the follows without comment as desires for more story. Most of the commentors already have me on author alerts, so the count for more was quite significant. So, without further ado, here's Alan's take on his brother's homecoming.**

**Both Mandy58 and fbobs have contributed greatly to this chapter. Their input was greatly appreciated.**

**Since this is an Auggie long before the one shown in Covert Affairs, I'm not sure how much, if any, disclaimer I need. And I doubt that any flashbacks of newly blinded Auggie will be anything like mine; but anyway - Don't own and no infringemet on copywrites intended.**

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As he had since his brother had arrived, Alan quietly watched his youngest brother Auggie as he engaged with his other brothers and their wives and children at the annual family Labor Day cookout.

The day before the men had gone to a baseball game and, outside of one incident where his recently blinded brother had gone off a bit half-cocked, that outing had gone fairly well. He'd wanted to strangle both his older brothers, Adam and Anthony for their comments that had riled Auggie up, but his brother's solo attempt to find a way to get away from his seemingly insensitive brothers had, apparently, turned out alright. At least that's what Adam said after Auggie had stormed off, and Adam had gone after him to talk him down and to get Auggie to stay for the rest of the game. Auggie had seemed to be fine before and then after that tantrum.

But today, dealing with the entire extended family seemed to be overwhelming to the recently-out-of-rehab blind guy. The day had started out very well, but as the day progressed Alan could see the frustration rising in his youngest brother. Auggie, it appeared, had chosen to try to drown his emotions in one bottle of beer after another. And old animosities had flared when their brother Anthony had rushed to Auggie's aid when he'd stumbled over something he could no longer see. That had precipitated Auggie putting Anthony in a chokehold and then that was followed by an emotional exit from the gathering. Auggie's blow-up didn't exactly surprise him only the length of time it took for him to reach his breaking point. Perhaps he should have intervened earlier, but, to tell the truth, Alan wanted to see how much his brother would now take – more than he'd thought he would.

Alan looked at his stunned family and thought, _Okay, time for some tough love from the only one here with the credentials to give it. Dad's too old, and he's Dad, which means Auggie's already programmed himself as an adult to not listen. Mom doesn't know where he's coming from, and she'd only coddle her youngest child. Auggie's just plain too raw where Anthony's concerned to listen to him; Adam might be a doctor and the family mediator but he seems clueless about what's going on with Auggie; and Austin is just too close to Auggie to be objective. So I'm elected. Here's hoping he listens without getting physical because he'd be a handful even blind. He turned Tony around in the blink of an eye, so he hasn't lost any speed or skills. But this can't continue. It's about to ruin his relationships with the one group on the planet he can count on for support if he will just accept it. _

It occurred to him that maybe more beer wasn't the best idea, but it was the only symbol of friendship he had to get his foot in the door as a conversation starter with Auggie so he grabbed two out of the cooler and, after stopping his mother from following her baby boy, marched into the house.

"Go away, Mother!" Auggie growled loudly as the patio door opened behind him. He was standing in the middle of the family room, arms folded over his chest and his head bowed. His body was vibrating like a freshly struck tuning fork.

Alan didn't answer for a moment, he knew that look from his baby brother; he knew that Auggie was angry almost beyond his control. Alan was grateful that Auggie didn't have anything in his hands or that his aim would surely be off if he did, otherwise he would get hit by a fastball in no time flat. "I told Mom to stay outside," Alan answered quietly and set the bottles of beer on the game table to his right. _He seems to have mastered pity party, now he needs to master acceptance,_ Alan thought.

Finally Auggie yelled, "You come in here to tell me everything's going to be okay, too?" His voice reverberated throughout the house.

"Nope," Alan replied in a controlled yet forceful voice and with the tone he used when he was dressing down a lesser ranking soldier in his unit. The part that knew that Auggie still out-ranked him wondered if he'd get away with talking to his brother like that. He carefully kept out of his brother's reach because he figured that he'd have exactly one chance to get Auggie down while he was confused about where he was if Auggie decided to get physical; after that, if he got a hand on him Auggie could probably take him and Alan didn't like that option at this point.

"Then what?" Auggie yelled.

"To tell you to you are well into alienating the people in the world who love you the most with your adult petulant tantrum and pity party."

Alan wasn't at all surprised when Auggie began swinging wildly and began screaming, "I don't have to take that from you –" only to be cut off by Alan expertly ducking under a swing and capturing his brother's arm and throwing him to the floor in the middle of the room. Alan was on top of his brother in an instant.

Auggie struggled to get free cursing mightily till it seemed to Alan he realized what Alan was doing. Alan was using his skills in hand-to-hand combat and his thirty-pound advantage and position to maintain his advantage over Auggie – a once and possibly still a superior force – but he was being very careful not to cause his brother pain that wasn't self-inflicted. He figured once it was obvious to Auggie he wasn't going anyplace and that Alan had no intention to hurt him, maybe he'd accept the situation and they could talk with, or yell at, each other, but at least not get physical again. Alan knew the chance of his taking Auggie down a second time in the middle of the family room without doing major damage to furnishings, and each other, was close to zero, so he had to make this one count.

As Auggie struggled less and less his curses got more muted. Finally he stopped struggling altogether and after a few seconds relaxed. Fearing one of his brother's famous traps, Alan kept his position and waited. After a minute or so, Auggie took a deep breath and asked, "Can we still talk?"

"That's up to you, bro. I brought a couple of cold ones as a peace offering but I don't think I need any more. And neither do you. I want to talk, but I'm not going to coddle you. Your recent behavior isn't acceptable."

That caused Auggie to flush red and he tried a sudden wrestling move but it went exactly no place. Alan had taken advantage of Auggie's not knowing where he was before they made contact in the first place in order to get a good position on him and he wasn't about to let it go until Auggie verbally agreed to a truce.

Auggie struggled for another few seconds and relaxed on the floor again. Finally he took another breath and asked, "Will you let me up if I agree to sit and talk without getting physical or trying to bolt?"

"Yes, of course."

"I promise, but I may get emotional or do some yelling."

"Emotional, upset, or yelling are just fine, but running and fighting isn't. You good with that?"

"I don't seem to have a choice."

"Oh, you have a choice. You can be good with it, or you can throw another tantrum and leave, I don't think you will be better off doing that, and someplace inside that stubborn skull of yours, you know I'm right."

Auggie made a symbolic effort to get loose, but Alan knew it wasn't a real try; he was just working off the last of his resistance. When his brother relaxed one last time and said, "Let me up bro. I'm okay with your terms. And you are right; I don't need any more beer right now." Alan immediately released Auggie and stood up. Auggie got up and looked a little disoriented. Alan asked, "Want me to point you to a chair?"

"Please."

Alan took his brother's wrist, turned him toward the nearest game table chair and put his hand on the back of it. Auggie pulled the chair out and oriented himself to it and sat down.

As he sat next to his brother, Alan waited, breathing normally, watching Auggie's internal struggle between his pride and dealing with his current situation.

Suddenly Auggie verbally exploded, "You never do what I want, do you? You should have shoved me in front of a god-damned bus in Germany just like I asked you to. Now I'm stuck in this lousy life, not being able to fucking see. This sucks Alan; my life sucks. You should have let me die over there."

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Do I? Do you?"

"Tony wasn't trying to patronize you; he was just trying to help you; trying to keep you from falling on your drunken ass. We're all trying to help you. You may not have any idea how to do this. Know what? Neither do we! We're figuring it out as we go just like you are." Alan was trying to control his voice, but he felt his tone and volume matching Auggie's.

Finally, after a few moments of silence, Auggie said in a more normal volume, "Alan, it's really hard for me here. It's outside my routine. It has no normal. It's a place I used to fit in and now I don't know how to do that. I can't see people's reactions; I get no input until they talk or grab me to give me assistance I either don't know I need or don't think I need, and I resent it. I resent the whole damn idea of being blind more when I'm here than anyplace else."

"How's that working for you?"

Auggie laughed bitterly and replied somewhat subdued, "Not worth a damn! I'm sitting here apparently alienated from everybody but you and I haven't a clue how to get to what a new normal is; or even what a new normal might be, and if it is even acceptable to me. And on top of that, I have all the old conflicts with Tony and Jessica to deal with." He paused, laughed derisively, and then said, "I probably owe Tony an apology."

"You do. But first things first. You want to continue this way? Or get to the bottom of it and try to figure out how to change what's not working?"

"It seems that going on like this isn't an option."

"No, it isn't. So what's driving all this bad energy? What's your problem with accepting love and well-intentioned, even if not needed, gestures of support from family members?" Alan asked.

"I don't like being blind. Isn't that obvious?"

"Nobody thinks you do."

Auggie looked a little shocked at that statement. Alan said nothing more leaving the ball in Auggie's court. Finally Auggie said, "Oh." Alan continued to stay quiet and finally Auggie said, "So the new normal is I hate being blind?"

"Only if that's what you choose to do."

"What else can I do?"

"Accept that the new normal is being blind. Accept that the new normal is learning to live with being blind. Accept that people will do things that irritate the crap out of you in the name of being helpful."

"What's fair about this? Why should I have to accept all that? I didn't ask to be blind."

"No, you volunteered to go in harm's way. It was a choice. I've made the same choice. I have my reasons. You had your reasons. Now that it's over, the reasons are what you have left if you want to look back."

"What if my reasons don't look so good right now?"

"Then look forward. Take what you have and make the best life you can with it."

"Take my blindness and make the best life I can with it? Get real."

"Oh come on, Auggie. You get real. You have extraordinary intelligence, you have a terrific education, and you have had some of the best rehabilitation training available on the planet. And you have a healthy body. You have all your limbs, all your coordination, excellent health, and no bullet holes or long term internal injury time bombs waiting to go off and kill you like some of the guys coming home from the Middle East. Yeah, take what you have, including the blindness, and make the best life you can. Thousands have done more with less."

"And raise a family?"

"Hell yes. There are blind fathers all over the country supporting families and raising kids. You know that. I know you know that. And you have a good job to go back to when you leave here; at least that's what you told everyone. Stop searching for excuses, there aren't any. There is a future for the taking right in front of you. Or not. Your choice. Pick your pony and take your ride."

"I'm doing that back in DC. I'm adjusting to my life there. I'm a bit nervous about going back to the job they've given me, but I'm fairly confident I can do well at it despite my new limitations – "

"They won't let you out in the field."

"Yeah, that's probably right."

"You blame them?"

Auggie shifted uncomfortably on his chair and after several attempts at saying something finally said very quietly, "No, I don't. Not really."

"How can you resent them for doing what you admit you would do if you were in their shoes?"

"I can't."

"Okay, back here on the homestead, if I was the blind one, would you want to help me?"

More shifting on the chair and finally Auggie answered, "You know I would."

"So why are you angry with us for trying to do for you what you would do for any of us?"

"I don't want to need the help," Auggie replied with some heat.

"What are you going to do about that?"

"I can't totally fix it and that is really frustrating. It's completely unfair."

"No, it isn't unfair."

"How can you say that?" Auggie asked angrily. "I'm the one that got blinded. Not you."

"That's true, but nobody put a gun to your head and told you to join Special Forces. Nobody forced you to take the assignment to Iraq. As I recall you asked for it."

"Yeah, I did, but only because –"

"No excuses. Your reasons are your reasons. But you did it. Nobody else. You went in harm's way for reasons I don't need to know. But now here you are. Actions have consequences. Not always predictable; not always desirable. What happened wasn't your fault, you did nothing wrong, but you were in the wrong place at the wrong time as a result and here you are."

"We were betrayed, Alan. Someone I trusted did this to me and killed my men! It was more than wrong place, wrong time!" Auggie paused for a moment, unclenching the fists he'd just made while taking a deep breath, and then said, "And yet here I am, getting psychoanalyzed by my brother."

"No, this isn't that complicated. What you are getting is some tough love from a brother that understands you better than you do right now. It's really very simple."

"How is it simple?"

"You decide to accept that you are blind and commit yourself to having a life anyway; or you decide to be miserable, soak your soul in self-pity, and piss off everyone around you. As far as the family is concerned, there really isn't any middle ground. And society is going to be way less tolerant. What's so complicated about that?"

Alan watched as Auggie held his head in his hands for two or three minutes. He had no idea how this was going to turn out, but he also knew he'd made his case as well as he could. So he sat and waited. Finally Auggie raised his head with a determined but not angry look and said, "I should start by apologizing?"

"That is a good beginning. What after that?"

"I really need to have a talk with them, but not in a large group, more like each brother with their wife together. Even though I know that they've been to Hines and had some training in how to help me, I need to let them know what I really need, and what I don't, and that I won't bite their heads off if they try like I did before."

"I think that's a great start."

"Start? What else do I have to do, grovel?"

"No, but coming back here without being summoned would be a huge help. It would give them, and me, time to get to know the new you."

From the defensive posture that quickly came over Auggie, Alan could see the visiting wasn't going to be an easy sell, and then Auggie said, "Travel for me right now is a nightmare, especially during holidays which would be the best times to visit because you are pretty much all here. But I will try." Auggie paused for a moment, swallowed hard and then added, "And I can limit myself to a couple of beers in an afternoon. Enough to be sociable but not enough to dull my sensibilities and make control iffy."

Alan suddenly felt pretty good about this talk. He decided to quit while he was ahead and said, "Shall we start now? I'll put these two now warm ones back in the cooler and you can work your program?"

Auggie sighed, stood, and then said, "Thanks, bro. You are a rock and I really needed one this afternoon."

"We're brothers, Auggie. It's what brothers do when they can. I was the one that could today. I'm just really glad I was here, and that I could help."

Alan touched Auggie on the hand and was surprised when his brother pulled him in to a man hug. Momentarily Alan feared that Auggie's apparent acquiescence was a con job and he was about to get the beating of his life for daring to point out his brother's recent unacceptable behavior. Then Auggie sniffed the air, "You're as drunk as I am, Alan." His tone was one of surprise.

Alan thought for a moment, "I am." He was. He hadn't matched his brother bottle for bottle, but he'd had more than his fair share. But it wasn't what fueled his bold attempt to knock some sense into his younger brother.

"Why?" Auggie asked quietly.

"Because it could've been me. ... I could be the Anderson brother blind and frustrated here."

"It wasn't –"

"And I feel guilty about that every day. Just like you feel guilty about surviving your incident –"

"Don't."

"I don't know that I can, but I'll try if you try to make amends here and then work at being the best you can be when you get back to DC."

"I guess I can do that." Auggie paused for a moment and furrowed his brow in thought. Finally he said, "Now get me started here, I'm just a little disoriented at the moment."

"No problem, bro," Alan said as he slipped an arm around his brother's shoulders and took a step toward the patio doors. For a moment Alan was concerned when Auggie wiggled out from under his arm, but then Auggie quickly grasped Alan's arm in standard sighted guide configuration. Glancing back at his brother, Alan was a bit surprised to see a look of what he could only call contriteness in Auggie's demeanor – his head was slightly bowed and his shoulders somewhat slumped.

As Alan pulled the patio door open the rest of the family looked expectantly at him. Alan stopped and looked back when Auggie's hand left his arm. "Auggie?"

"I'm okay. I've got to do this under my own power and not from a position of dependence like I'd be if I came out on your arm."

Alan took another few steps out onto the deck.

Auggie stepped out behind his brother and said in a voice just loud enough to be heard by anyone on the deck and patio, "I'm sorry."

* * *

**Anyone have a comment on this chapter? As long as it's civil, I'd love to hear from you. Thank you for your continued support. PL**


	3. Anthony's Take

**Here's Anthony's take on Auggie's first time home after being blinded. This chapter isn't quite my usual since Anthony is more reflective on things going on around him instead of being an active participant in them. Hope that you enjoy it.**

**Mandy58 has had her say. She knows how much I appreciate her assistance.**

**Once again this is a view of Auggie long before he first appears in Matt Corman's and Chris Ord's Covert Affairs. I have no intention of infringing on whatever copyrights they have on that show.**

* * *

Anthony Wayne Anderson, second in the line of the five sons of Alfred and Abigail Anderson, after loudly proclaiming his displeasure with his brother Austin's insistence that their youngest, and recently blinded, brother, August – also known as Auggie – accompany them on the traditional Labor Day Weekend outing to a baseball game, begrudgingly accepted that his blind brother was coming to US Cellular Field with them. Last year they'd taken in a much preferred Chicago Cubs game on the Sunday before Labor Day; this year the Cubbies were playing out of town, so younger brother Austin had obtained tickets for the Chicago White Sox game. How his brother had gotten the seats he had baffled Anthony. But get them he had. Last year it had been just the three brothers who still lived on the North Shore of Chicago and their father since their two other brothers were not able to get the leave to come home – Alan was deployed in Afghanistan and Auggie said that he couldn't get the time off from his super-secret job at the Pentagon in DC. He didn't quite believe that Auggie couldn't get off, but that wasn't his concern. Mom and Dad and his other brothers seemed to accept that excuse.

Auggie had already gone upstairs to get ready for the ballgame by the time that Anthony had arrived so it had been almost two years since he'd seen his youngest brother. At the moment Anthony had no idea how his brother would look; or act. After he'd come back from spending almost a week with his brother Austin insisted that Auggie was still Auggie, just an Auggie that no longer could see. Anthony wanted to believe that, but like his excuses about why he didn't come home very often, he wasn't quite sure about Auggie. As Austin went upstairs to hurry Auggie along Anthony joined his father and other brothers in heading out to Adam's SUV. It was the only single vehicle in the family large enough to hold the six Anderson men. He'd drawn the short straw when they were deciding who would sit in the jump seat in the very back so Anthony climbed into the car first and then his father and brother Alan got in the back seat. Adam waited until he saw Austin and Auggie come out the back door before he closed the rear door on the driver's side and climbed in behind the wheel. With much curiosity Anthony observed as his youngest brothers crossed the porch, descended the stairs and approached the car. Outside of his reaching out for Austin's arm while they were on the steps, Anthony didn't see anything that different about his youngest brother; then as he approached the car closer Anthony noted the almost blank stare in his youngest brother's eyes. His stomach lurched unexpectedly at the sight of his brother's eyes and the bundle of red and white tubes in his brother's right hand. It was true – his brother was blind. Once again anger coursed through Anthony's veins. Then he couldn't quite name the emotion that the anger morphed into as he watched the subtle movements Auggie made as he got into the car and closed the door. If it wasn't for the cane securely clutched in his brother's left hand now …

As the six men traveled the short distance to the stadium they chatted about both the Cubs' and the White Sox's seasons so far and the hopes for the game today against the LA Angles. Auggie was uncharacteristically quiet. Anthony attributed that to the fact that he'd been out of country for the last year, and that he was a die-hard Cubs fan; Auggie enjoyed watching the Sox if the Cubs weren't playing, but much preferred to watch the Cubs.

Watch. See. Look. Suddenly the safety reasons he didn't want his brother to come along took a backseat to wondering how Auggie could enjoy a sport and a stadium that were so … well … so … visual. Had Austin insisted on bringing a blind man to a game he couldn't possibly follow or enjoy? Austin seemed to think that it would be okay, and he'd spent more time with Auggie since … since the incident … so maybe it would be okay. He was just glad at the moment that Austin had taken charge of dealing with Auggie.

When they got to U.S. Cellular Field and parked the car– Anthony was surprised that Austin had managed to get VIP parking and they didn't have a long hike to get into the stadium – Anthony was the last out of the vehicle and Austin had already gotten Auggie situated. For the second time that day Anthony could not help but notice his brother's cane. Auggie had unfurled the sections and held it so its tip was a few inches off the ground and a few feet in front of him. It was hard to miss. As was the look on his youngest brother's face that Anthony could quite figure out. It wasn't quite fear, but it was not a look of confidence either. Apprehension? It had been a long time since he'd seen Auggie as anything but fully confident. As they moved with the crowd entering the stadium Anthony and the other men followed Austin and Auggie since Austin held the tickets and knew where they were going. Even though he'd gone to the informational sessions that the family had been offered from the Hines VA Hospital in how best to assist their now blind sibling/son, Anthony, even though part of him didn't want to, quietly made note of how Austin guided his brother and informed him what was going on around him. They slowly made their way to their seats, stopping at the Guest Relations booth to pick up a special piece of equipment for Auggie. From there they descended from the main level to their seats just behind the home dugout. Once again Anthony wondered how Austin had gotten these seats. When they'd reached the area of their seats Austin let Alan go in first then he entered and placed Auggie's hand on the back of the second seat in. Anthony took the seat between his father and older brother, Adam, in the row behind the younger brothers. After he'd sat down and broken down his cane, an action Anthony perceived as a too familiar motion, Auggie reached forward and asked, "What's in front of us?"

"Top of the dugout; we've got first row seats," Austin said proudly. "Only the best for you, Augs."

"Even though I can't exactly appreciate what's happening on the field?" The touch of melancholy in his brother's voice reinforced Anthony's perception that he shouldn't be at the game. He thought it cruel that Austin had insisted.

"Especially because of that. Down here you can be a part of the excitement of the game, even if you can't see what's going on out on the field."

"That's what this is for," Alan said as he placed the item they'd picked up at Guest Services against Auggie's chest. Auggie examined the device and then clipped it onto his belt and placed the earpiece into his ear. "How does this thing work?" he asked Austin.

"According to the lady that I talked with when I was getting the tickets, it broadcasts the same play-by-play that the radio listeners get, but without the time lag. It's real time so you can know what we're groaning or cheering about when we do and not 5 seconds later."

"Cool!" Auggie exclaimed. He seemed to be excited about the device that, to Anthony, for all the world looked like the Walkman radios that Auggie had been so fond of taking apart when he was a child.

For the next hour or so, Auggie seemed to fully enjoy, if not the game itself, the ambiance of the stadium. Along with the rest of them, Auggie had had a couple of beers, a hot dog and a bag of popcorn. They always indulged in those things when they ventured to a game. Today was no different. At one point Auggie leaned toward Austin and whispered, "Austin, I got to get rid of those beers. Could you ...?"

"Sure," Austin said as he rose from his aisle seat and touched Auggie's shoulder. Auggie rose and took Austin's arm. As his youngest brothers trudged up the stairs to the main concourse, Anthony wondered if his baby brother would ever be able to go anywhere without help again; and what that would now mean for the family as a whole. Ever since she'd come back from seeing Auggie just after they'd learned that he'd been blinded in Iraq, their mother had quietly been making plans so that Auggie could come back to Glencoe and live with her and Dad. He wasn't sure he liked that idea – Auggie back in the house permanently. They'd been assured that once he had completed the rehabilitation process Auggie would be capable of living independently, but seeing him today, firmly latched on to his brother's arm, Anthony wasn't so sure that was true.

Wrenching his thoughts away from his baby brother's plight, Anthony returned his attention to the game on the field. He'd need to catch Austin up on the excitement of the game he was missing while tending to his disabled brother's needs.

When the youngest Anderson boys returned to their seats about fifteen minutes after they'd left, Anthony began to relate the action on field to Austin. "… should have seen that homer by Konerko. Too bad the bases weren't loaded. Then Ramirez and Swisher both sent fly balls to right field. …"

Anthony was surprised when Austin stated, "No need for the play-by-play, Tony. Augs kept me abreast of the play while we were takin' care of business. He kept the rest of the men's room entertained, too."

"Well, I knew there was some reason you insisted on bringing him along." Anthony's said with an air of disapproval. "What? Don't look at me like that. You know that I didn't think it was a wonderful idea to bring August with us," he added when Alan and Dad looked at him disdainfully.

"He should be safe back at the house," Adam added. That sentiment from Adam surprised Anthony.

"Adam, Anthony, that's quite enough." Alfred reprimanded his two oldest sons.

"Sorry. That didn't come out the right way," Anthony mumbled to Auggie, but he could see that his apology had fallen on deaf ears. From long years of experience he recognized when his brother had retreated into himself. He was quite surprised, and a bit alarmed when Auggie suddenly stood up, unfurled the cane he'd just broken down, and moved toward the stairs. Austin tried to stop him, but Auggie angrily shook off Austin's attempt to restrain him. With a determined look Auggie began to climb the stairs he'd just descended.

"Where are you going?" Adam asked with concern as Auggie passed him.

"Home. Where I'm safe," Auggie retorted vehemently.

_Oh crap,_ Anthony thought, _What have I accidentally goaded my brother into doing now?_ He rose from his seat.

"How –" Adam asked and put a hand out to stop Anthony and Austin.

"Watch me!" With cane held straight down and lightly touching each stair riser in turn, Auggie once again climbed the stairs.

Once Auggie was a few steps up from their seats, Adam rose and mouthed – 'Let him go. I'll take care of this.'

Outside of their mother, Anthony figured that Adam was probably the one best suited to deal with their youngest brother when he was this pissed. Anthony sat back down and tried to return his attention to the game. One way or another he hoped that Adam would get the situation back under control. He was right, about fifteen minutes later Adam was back with their youngest brother who wore a look of resignation. As Adam showed Auggie to his seat their father asked, "Where did you catch up with him?"

As Auggie got settled and began collapsing his cane again, Adam returned to his seat and said, "At the customer service booth; he was going to have them get him a cab home. "

"Good one, Augs," Austin said patting Auggie's back. "You showed them that you're not the helpless man they took you for."

Anthony watched his youngest brother relax and as a smug little smile worked its way across his brother's face. He knew that look – Auggie had gotten away with something. Despite that smugness Anthony couldn't help but be impressed with his youngest brother's guts and got to thinking that maybe his first impression of his youngest brother might be in error.

For the rest of the game and the ride home, Anthony looked at his now blind baby brother in a different light. But, in the back of his head, Anthony couldn't help but wonder what impact his brother's blindness might have on the family.

When he got home, and got the greetings of wife and children out of the way, his wife, Jessica, shooed the children out of the room and earnestly asked, "How's Auggie?"

"He's fine," Anthony replied. He was surprised that she'd made the children leave the room before she asked that. He was also a bit curious, even though he probably should not have been why she only asked about Auggie. Usually she'd just ask 'How's the family?' in passing when he'd come back from a solo visit.

"How was the game?"

"It was good."

Jessica stepped in front of her husband and placed her hands on his chest. "What's bothering you? Usually you can't wait to tell me about the ballgames when you've gone. Or about what's going on in the family. Your silence is not normal."

Anthony took in a lungful of air and slowly released it. "Auggie's still Auggie – sort of. He looks fine. His eyes look normal enough until you look closely. Then they're sort of vacant. He seems to be dealing with his situation okay. Still feeling the need to prove himself."

Jessica looked at Anthony with a puzzled look on her face

Anthony answered his wife's curiosity by continuing his monologue. "Austin had taken Auggie to the bathroom and I was beginning to tell them about what they'd missed. Austin said that the piece of equipment that Auggie had kept them abreast of the play. Old habits die hard and I made a foot-in-mouth comment that sent Auggie off on his own in a huff. That must have taken a lot of guts on his part since someone had been guiding him up until that point. Anyway, Adam went after him and got him calmed down. Dad didn't say anything but I knew he was upset with me. He seemed okay when Adam and Auggie came back. The smug little bastard acted like he'd gotten away with something. I have no idea what he could have gotten away with, but … Anyway, Dad was okay again and the rest of the game went fine. And now I'm home. How did your shopping with Jenna and Livvie go? Do I have to take a second job to pay for the credit card bills?" Anthony smiled broadly at his wife; he enjoyed teasing his wife about her spending habits.

"We had a good time. Jenna is so ready to deliver this baby but she had a good time with us. All she wanted to look at was baby clothes. And no, a second job is not needed, I restrained myself." She smiled sweetly at her husband and then continued, "Now, tell me more about how Auggie's doing. Does it look like he's able to be on his own? Will Mom have a case and make him come back here to live?"

"From what I saw today she might. But for now I'm reserving judgment. Tomorrow will be the telling day. He'll be in a fairly familiar place. Like they said at Hines – familiarity and routines are the key to independence. We will see. For so many reasons I'm not thrilled at the thought of Auggie living back at home."

"I'm not either. What would that mean for us and our family?"

# # #

When Anthony, Jessica and their three children, eleven-year-old Kathryn (also known as Kate or Katie), eight-year-old Lucas and five-year-old Ethan, Auggie was already in the back yard and sitting on the rose arbor swing. Anthony sighed and loudly proclaimed for Auggie's benefit, "Hey, Auggie! Jessica, the kids and I are here now."

From his place on the swing Auggie raised a hand and waved, but Anthony could tell it was a half-hearted greeting. And the fact that his brother was on the swing indicted that he was already upset. Auggie rarely went to the swing unless he was troubled about something; as a kid that swing was always Auggie's refuge.

Anthony's kids ran to greet their grandparents while he and Jessica put their family's contribution to the potluck meal in appropriate locations. As usual they seemed to be the last to arrive; the rest of the family were already scattered about in small clusters dotted about the deck and patio: Adam and Austin were on the far end of the deck with their father; Alan was off in the corner of the patio with Olivia and Jenna; the kids were either off by themselves or the littlest ones were close to a parent. Everyone, except Auggie, seemed to be having a good time. For a brief moment Anthony thought of going out to talk to his youngest brother, he really thought that he should apologize again for his comment yesterday and he wanted to try to put some of the years of animosity behind them, but Adam's wife Olivia beat him to it. When Olivia headed over to sit with Auggie on the swing, Anthony sauntered over to take her place on the patio chair. From where he sat on the patio, Anthony could easily see Auggie and Olivia talking. For a bit Auggie appeared to tense up, then, the longer he and his oldest sister-in-law talked, he seemed to relax. Anthony wondered what they were talking about. Alan engaged his slightly older brother in the conversation he and Jessica were having about an incident that had been on the morning news. Because of his position as one of Chicago's Assistant District Attorneys, Anthony didn't want to offer his true view on the potential guilt or innocence of the party arrested for a lethal home invasion on Chicago's South Side. Anthony knew that his sisters-in-law and brothers loved to try to get legal opinions on news stories out of him, but, knowing that, he carefully steered away from anything like that in general conversation. Of course if one of his siblings or their children or spouses were in need of legal assistance he would be quick to come to their aid.

The conversation ended when Alfred, patriarch of the Anderson family, announced that his job of grilling the varied meats was done and everyone could gather around and eat. As everyone began to line up, Alfred said a brief blessing over the food. With a bit of feigned disinterest, Anthony watched as Olivia helped Auggie to a place at the round table on the deck and fixed him a plate, as he took his place in line and fixed his own plate. He deliberately took a seat at the long wooden picnic table on the patio where he could not see his now blind brother. To his surprise, his wife took the seat directly opposite where she could clearly see what Anthony did not want to. His two boys took their place at the 'kid's table' on the other end of the patio while his daughter joined him and her mother at the picnic table. Katie sat beside her mother. Anthony was pleased to see that his daughter had taken, for her, generous portions of the offered foods. She hadn't felt like eating much the last few weeks and he hoped this was a sign that she was getting better. He offered his wife and daughter pleased smiles; he was pleased that some of his family chose to sit with him. Family was everything to Anthony. They were joined by Alan, Austin and his wife, Jessica, and their young daughter, Summer, as well as his parents. Adam and Olivia had joined Auggie on the deck.

As they ate, Anthony was aware that his wife's attention was focused over his shoulder. Jessica seemed to be boldly watching what was happening at the round table on the deck; it appeared that his wife was doing what Anthony could not bring himself to do. The conversation varied from local politics, to sports of all sorts, but very little about the youngest Anderson brother's new status. Anthony was pleased about the last part; when he got home his wife was sure to tell him all about what she had observed about his youngest brother's ability to eat a meat without making a mess of it.

After the meal, Anthony grabbed another beer from the cooler by the patio door and found a comfortable seat on one of the wrought aluminum patio chairs at the edge of the patio where he could watch his boys playing on the back lawn. Katie was on the deck on one of the patio sofas talking with her cousin, Adam's daughter Alexis; the two girls were almost the same age and got along well. As the rest of the afternoon progressed the clusters of family members ebbed and flowed. The one thing that Anthony did notice was the way that Auggie tentatively moved from seating group to seating group and chatted with everyone; apparently civilly. The civilly part didn't exactly surprise Anthony; he was the main one that Auggie had problems with. And that, too, didn't surprise him; he'd always treated his youngest brother like crap. Now, since his brother had been so horribly injured part of him really wanted to change that, but he needed to break down his brother's defenses to do that. How to do that Anthony hadn't a clue. But part of him really wondered how his brother's new status in the family would affect him. Would the now blind brother once again become their parent's sole focus?

As he watched his children play, Anthony also made note of the number of times Auggie ventured to the ice chest full of beer located next to the patio door. Alan seemed to be making more than the usual number of trips there, too. He couldn't help but wonder about that. Neither had been that heavy of drinkers before they went to war. He sighed and shook his head at that.

After he'd had a chat with just about everyone, Auggie, with a fresh bottle of beer in hand, found his way back to the arbor swing. He passed right by Anthony without a word. That in and of itself wasn't a surprise. Even when he could see, Auggie tended to ignore his brother's existence. Even though they were now just a few feet apart, it was apparent to Anthony that he and his youngest brother were worlds apart. And it wasn't just that Auggie could no longer even see him sitting there. Auggie had gone places and seen things that Anthony could never fathom or relate to. And now he was blind because of that life. Another course of unexpected anger coursed through Anthony's body.

A few moments later Anthony's youngest son ran up to his father. "Daddy, Daddy, look what I found!" Ethan held out his open hand and showed his father the caterpillar in his hand.

"That's a nice bug you've found there, Ethan," Anthony said. "Do you know what caterpillars become when they grow up?"

"Butterflies!" the little boy exclaimed.

"That's right," Anthony praised. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Auggie drop an empty beer bottle on the ground beside the swing. Auggie then rose from the swing and slowly moved off toward the house.

With a bit of concern Anthony turned his attention from his son, to his blind brother. Auggie's hands were raised about waist high and extended slightly in front of his body as he walked. After a few tentative strides, Auggie veered slightly from the brick path and stumbled over the brick edging. Anthony left his son's side and rushed to his brother and reached out to steady him. "There you go now, bro. Take my arm and I'll get you safely where you're heading. Where are you heading?

Violently Auggie shook his brother's hand from his arm and snapped, "I'm fine. I don't need yours or anyone's help to get to the beer cooler."

"You're drunk," Anthony observed.

"Maybe I am. So what? I'm sure as hell not driving so what does it matter? Now get out of my way."

Anthony stood firm as his brother tried to push past him. Once again Auggie stumbled when his brother didn't move out of his way. And once again Anthony reached out to steady his youngest brother, he was rewarded by Auggie grabbing his arm, spinning him around and pinning his arm painfully behind him with one hand and quickly putting him in a choke hold with his other arm. The action and the speed with which it was accomplished took Anthony by surprise.

"August let Tony go. He meant you no harm," their mother said calmly as she rushed toward them.

Auggie sighed and loosened his grip from around his brother's neck and then from his arm. Anthony stepped away from his brother and flexed the shoulder and massaged the wrist that had been pinned behind his back. Auggie stood where he was with his fists firmly clenched at his side a sure sign that he was still pissed. What he had to be pissed about puzzled Anthony; he had only kept his brother from falling on his drunken ass. It wasn't like he was treating him like he had when they were kids.

"August, can I help you back to the deck?" Abigail asked quietly.

Auggie shook his head, "No, Mom. I can get there by myself. Just make sure I'm pointed in the right direction.

"August?"

"Mom. I'm fine. I know the yard. I'm capable of doing this. Please let me. Just point me in the right direction."

With obvious concern Abigail centered her youngest son on the walkway and stepped away from him. Auggie started toward the house, but with every step Anthony could see the tension rise in his brother. Auggie exploded with a loud 'Damn it!' when he stumbled on the bottom step of the stairs onto the deck. As he turned and sat, with head in hands, his mother rushed once again toward her youngest son.

Abigail spoke quietly enough that Anthony couldn't hear what she was saying, but his brother's response could probably be heard in the next block. "No, Mom. I'm not okay. It's not going to be okay. It's never going to be okay. I'm blind – now and forever! I can deal with the blindness but I can't deal with the pity or the loss of my independence. If I want help, I'll ask for it. Coming here and expecting to be accepted was a huge mistake."

After he finished his tirade Auggie got up from where he sat, climbed the rest of the steps, and began crossing the deck toward the patio doors. When he heavily bumped into one of the patio chairs Auggie verbally exploded once again, "There. Everyone satisfied now? You've seen me stumble and fail."

Anthony, along with everyone else, looked at Auggie in stunned silence. This was a side of his brother that Anthony had never seen before; never expected to see. He wanted to rush to his brother's side and offer words of comfort and encouragement but there were two reasons he couldn't. The first was that he knew that Auggie would not listen to him, might actually attack him again; and he had no idea what to say to his brother who was so obviously hurting.

Alan, after his brother's stormy exit from the backyard, grabbed a couple of fresh beers from the cooler, and went after Auggie. Anthony wasn't sure that more beer was the answer, but he hoped that Alan would be able to get their brother calmed down. Auggie, to him, seemed to be in a self-destructive spiral and he hated to see that from a brother that still had so much potential.

Shortly after Alan entered the house everyone could hear Auggie yelling at Alan. Anthony wasn't close enough to actually understand what Auggie was saying at the top of his lungs, but it was clear that he was hostile. He wasn't at all surprised to hear scuffling from inside the house and hoped that it was Alan who had come out on top of that. Two military men, even if at least one of them was drunk, going at each other was sobering. All of their skills and their mindset made them formidable; and Auggie had the extra training of the Special Forces. Even blind he probably still had the edge over Alan.

Once the yelling from inside the house dissolved into just loud talking, the rest of the family slowly returned to their normal conversations. Anthony wandered over and joined his wife on the far end of the patio. She seemed to be just as upset by what had just transpired as he was. He slipped a comforting arm around her waist as soon as he was settled on the settee beside her. Adam and Olivia were sitting on patio chairs across from them in the area configured for easy conversation; Adam had one of his feet propped casually on the low glass-topped table.

Anthony looked at his oldest brother and asked, "What the hell just happened here?"

Olivia was the one that responded. "Something, and I'm sure it was something more than just your reaching out to steady him, caused Auggie to reach his breaking point. He's been through a lot in these last few months. He's hurting from it all but he's being a good soldier and is soldiering on. That's probably not the best thing for him to do – keeping everything all bottled up inside himself. I've seen this before. He'll either fall into complete despair or he'll pull it together and look like he's got it together. I fear that at some point he's going to lose it again; and maybe somewhere less understanding that with his family. We can't condone what just happened, but we can understand what he's going through and continue to support him as best we can and in ways that he can accept."

"How do we do that?" Jessica asked.

"I can't give a simple answer to that, Jess," Olivia said softly. "We all have different relationships with Auggie and what he'll need and accept from each one of us will be different. I guess we'll just have to take it encounter by encounter and hope that he'll tell us what he wants or needs from each of us." Olivia looked at Anthony, "Even if what he wants is to continue old adversarial relationships."

Anthony sighed and then responded, almost wistfully, "I've been trying for years to change that. He's the one that seems to want to keep it that way."

Olivia shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I know. Maybe someday that will change, but I don't think it's going to be right now. So much has changed for him I'm not sure that he can take changes in relationships right now, too. Go on offering your hand in brotherly friendship, but don't be surprised, or offended, if he continues to swat that offered hand away."

"Okay," was all that Anthony could say. On one level what his sister-in-law had said made sense, but he wasn't totally fine with that scenario. He was growing tired of the adversarial relationship he had with his youngest brother. But come to think of it, the only brother he didn't have at least a sometime full-of-friction relationship with was Alan; he even had those times with Adam. He sighed, shook his head free of those thoughts and cuddled up to his beautiful wife a bit more. She, and his children, were the constants in his life; he loved her passionately and his children fiercely. If anything ever happened to them he didn't know what he'd do.

The conversation with Adam and Olivia continued for a bit longer with Olivia outlining the many small things that Auggie was having to adjust to because of his new situation of total blindness. Their conversation was interrupted by the opening of the patio door and Alan stepping out. He had the look of a man who had just won a major battle. Auggie stepped out onto the deck behind his brother; he looked for all the world like a man defeated – his head was bowed and his shoulders slumped. As soon as he'd closed the patio door behind himself, Auggie raised his head and said, in a contrite little boy tone, "I'm sorry."

There was a chorus of 'Okays,' 'Accepteds' and 'No Problems' from those on the deck and patio. Even from Anthony who wondered to whom specifically he was apologizing.

"Tony?" Auggie said turning his head as if searching for his brother.

After a brief pause Anthony responded, "I'm down here on the patio, Auggie."

Auggie turned his body toward the sound of his brother's voice, but didn't make a move toward the steps. "Are you okay? I mean … I didn't hurt you too bad when I …" his voice trailed off then began again, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I took your grabbing me wrong. You were just trying to help. I know that now."

"I'm fine Auggie. You didn't hurt me too much. Not as much as you could have. Just please don't do it again." Anthony paused then added, "I'd hate to have to bring you up on assault charges." He laughed, and then, after a moment's pause, so did Auggie.

* * *

**Different right? Thoughts? I'm working on Austin's views of the weekend as well as Abigail's - Auggie's mother - thoughts about having her son home again.**


	4. Austin's Take on Things

**I know, it's been far too long since I've updated this story. Life got in the way. And my beta's life got in her way, too. Now to be honesy, I'm not exactly sure that there will be anymore coming any time soon. I have stories in the works, but life is not letting me work on them the way I did in the past.**

**This story has nothing to do with the current direction of the show and is simply a story about the family that I've made up for Auggie long ago before the pilot story came into being. **

**For those of you have been patiently waiting here's the next installment in Auggie's first time back in Glencoe after his 'incident in Tikrit'.**

* * *

**The Friday before Labor Day**

Austin Ryan Anderson – fourth in the line of five sons of Alfred and Abigail Anderson – approached the baggage claim area of Chicago's O'Hare airport. His eyes scanned the area for a familiar face he hoped would be there. His mother had asked him to pick his younger brother up and all she'd given him was the flight number and the arrival time. As soon as he'd gotten inside the terminal, he'd checked the arrivals board, the flight had been on time, and his brother should be arriving at baggage claim soon. That is if he'd even been on the flight. No one was sure that he'd even boarded, his brother had offered up a long list of excuses for why he couldn't travel home for the annual Labor Day family get-together. Everyone saw them for what they were – bullshit and the fears of a newly blind man.

Then he saw him on the escalator and watched as he stepped off the moving stairway and begin to cross the concourse. His brother was escorted by a woman of indeterminate years but what caught his eye was the white cane in his brother's hand and it made his heart sink; his brother really was blind. The symbol of his brother's blindness was loosely extended in front of him – like a bumper his brother had quipped a few weeks ago. Even though he'd spent a few days with his newly blinded brother a few weeks back, Austin wasn't quite used to seeing his brother with a white cane yet.

After the traveler's aide woman left his brother standing, apparently at his insistence, Austin quickly traveled the last few dozen yards to his brother's side. "Auggie," Austin announced when he was a few paces away from his brother.

"Austin!" Auggie exclaimed with what sounded like joy and a bit of relief as he turned to face his brother. In apparent anticipation, Auggie spread his arms.

Austin quickly wrapped his arms about his brother and his relief matched that of his brother. "Good to see you again, Augs. What's your bag look like?"

"Packed what I think is a black wheelie bag, medium sized. It has what I was told is a bright orange tag on it. If that fails to locate it, it's also got a tag that beeps when I press this button." He pulled a small pad from his jeans pocket with six buttons on it.

"Well, now, ain't that neat," Austin said grabbing the device from Auggie's hand, marveling at the technology. "How's it work?" He placed the pad back into Auggie's hand.

"It works on the same principle as a remote fob for a car. If an item with one of the tags on it is within 30 feet of me, it will beep when I press the corresponding button on the pad. Big help in finding stuff that I've forgotten where I set down."

"Ah, the baggage is starting to appear on the carousel. Let's see if I can locate your bag now." He took a step away from where Auggie stood.

"Um, Austin, you gonna leave me standing here all alone?"

"Well, you do look kinda cute standing there leaning on your cane next to that pillar. You're kinda out of the way there. I'll be back in a few minutes." Austin hesitated for a moment until he saw Auggie nod almost imperceptibly, and then headed for the carousel.

As he waited for a black bag with an orange tag on it to appear on the carousel, Austin looked back to where he'd left his brother. He saw Auggie sweep his cane in a wide arc from side to side until it struck the structural column to his left and then move to the column so he could lean against it. Those simple acts caused the lump in Austin's throat to rise once again. He swallowed hard and pushed the lump back down. If it weren't for that damned cane in his hands, he'd look just like he did almost two years ago. With that white cane so prominently displayed it was hard to deny that his brother was no longer the man he had been then.

When a black bag with an orange tag appeared Austin snatched it off the moving belt, checked the nametag, and then strode back over to where Auggie waited. He spoke quietly to Auggie as he approached and then touched Auggie's left hand like Auggie had told him to do weeks before. As Auggie grasped his upper arm near the elbow, Austin proclaimed, "I'm sorry Augs, we've got a bit of a hike to get to my car."

"That's okay. I need the exercise." Auggie didn't seem at all disturbed at the prospect of a hike; seemed to welcome it in fact.

The two men didn't converse much on the way to Austin's car. Austin was too busy trying to remember all of the things that he'd been taught in how to be a sighted guide and looking out for the obstacles that he had to warn Auggie about. Moreover, Auggie didn't seem to be in a talkative mood. However, once they got to the car, Auggie's suitcase stowed in the backseat, and his brother settled in the passenger seat, Austin asked, "What's up, Augs? You're awfully quiet today."

"I'm fine," Auggie said casually. "I was just letting you concentrate on being my sighted guide. You were nervous and I didn't want to distract you."

"Oh," Austin replied as he stuck the key in the ignition and started the car. Neither said anything again until Austin was off the airport property and on the way to their parent's home in nearby Glencoe. "How's it feel to be coming back home?" Austin asked as he merged into traffic on the Kennedy Expressway.

Out of the corner of his eye, Austin saw his brother shrug his shoulders before he answered, "Strange. It feels strange. No one's seen much of me since this," he gestured at his eyes with his right hand and quickly dropped it back down to his lap where his folded up cane also rested, "I want to see everyone – and yes it's still okay to say that around me. I just 'see' differently these days – but I'm sure it will be awkward for all of us. The only one I'm not eager to see is Tony, and by association Jessica. Tony's just going to see this as another means to torture me. And Jess … Jess is just going to look down on me more than she already does and wonder how having a blind, disabled veteran brother-in-law is going to affect her status in the inner circle of the country club."

Austin didn't quite know how to respond. His brother almost had a point. Anthony might just see his youngest brother's blindness as more ammunition to torture Auggie like he had for as long as he could remember; but would Auggie believe him if he mentioned how hard Anthony had taken the news that his youngest brother had been blinded in an explosion in Iraq? After a moment's consideration Austin decided just to change the subject, "We'll find out about that tomorrow. I have these awesome tickets to a Sox game on Sunday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Not the Cubbies, but they're not in town this weekend. And we're all getting together as usual on Monday."

"Yeah. A ballgame and a picnic. Just like always. Great way for a blind man to spend the weekend. Such fun in store for me …"

There was no mistaking the sarcasm his brother's words were laced with. Austin let out a slightly forced exhale and continued with his hopes for the weekend as he maneuvered his way through traffic. Auggie engaged in the discourse, but decidedly without enthusiasm.

When, almost an hour after picking his brother up at O'Hare, Austin pulled to a stop and turned off the ignition. "We're here, Augs. Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah. As ready as I can be." Auggie seemed to steel his nerves in preparation for – For what Austin wasn't quite sure. He was only coming home for a few days to the house that he'd grown up in; a house that he should know like the back of his hand. In addition, Austin knew that his parents were eager to see their youngest son again. They'd flown out to Virginia as soon as they'd heard that Auggie had been hurt, but that was many weeks after his injury had happened; and Auggie had already begun lessons in how to live as a man who was now blind. When she'd gone out, their mother, Abigail, had been intent on bringing her youngest son home. That hadn't happened, but now Auggie was about to visit the family for the first time since he'd been blinded.

"I'll take your bag up to your room. Mom thought that you'd be most comfortable in our old room at the end of the hall upstairs. Do you want me to guide you up to the door? Or, do you want to do it on your own?" He hadn't touched on the subject on the drive in and Austin wasn't at all certain how much assistance his brother needed. Or wanted.

"Where did you stop in relation to the back door? I assume we're in the drive and not on the street."

"When you get out, if you follow the car toward the trunk and cross behind it you'll be right at the back stairs."

"I think I can handle that. Thanks, Austin."

"For what?" Austin asked clearly surprised.

"Just thanks for being my brother."

Austin waited and watched as Auggie exited the car and headed toward the porch. He was surprised when Auggie didn't use his cane, but without any assistance, Auggie easily found the stair rail and ascended the stairs with confidence. Two quick strides across the porch deck and his hand easily found the door handle. When Auggie paused for a moment before opening the screen door Austin finished taking his brother's suitcase out of the back seat and followed him into the house.

Following Auggie into their parent's home, Austin was relieved to see that his brother was navigating the house without his cane; it was just a bundle of aluminum tubes in his hand and not unfurled and in use. As they ventured deeper into the house Austin heard his brother call out, "Mom? Dad? Anyone in the kitchen?"

"I'll be there in a minute, August," he heard their mother answer from the front of the house.

It was but a few moments before the petite and, today, somewhat fragile looking woman emerged from the main hallway. For another moment, she scanned her youngest son from head to foot and then eagerly stepped toward him with, "I'm here and I'm fixin' to hug you." As she wrapped her arms around Auggie she softly exclaimed, "It's so good to have you home."

As Austin slipped by the mother and son, he heard Auggie proclaim, "It's good to be home, Mom." And after a few seconds followed up with, "Have you moved the furniture around or added anything new?"

"No. You know me, once I find a good place for something it stays there. Everything in the house should be exactly as it was the last time you were here. The back deck and patio area changes all the time, so if you head out there, you might want an orientation first."

"Thanks, Mom." Then Austin heard his brother ask, "Pot roast for supper?"

A pleased smile worked its way across Austin's features as he moved on down the main hallway towards the foyer and main stairs. The smells coming from the kitchen were so enticing that Austin almost wished that he was able to stay for dinner, but he had to get home to his very pregnant wife and two-year-old daughter. He quickly climbed the stairs and then entered the first room on the right, the guest room. Auggie would be more comfortable here than in one of the other bedrooms since it had its own private bath. He entered the room and placed his brother's suitcase on the foot of the bed. There was a slight temptation to place the bag in the middle of the floor, but the adult in him overrode the latent childishness.

As he exited the room, Austin encountered Auggie on the stairs. "Augs, I thought that you'd be much more comfortable in the guest room, rather than trying to sleep in our old bunk beds in our old room. First room here on your right. Adam's old room."

"What made you do that? I know our room like the back of my hand."

"I'll move you down there if you really want that." Austin said with chagrin. He hadn't thought about that. Auggie would have to familiarize himself with a room that he hadn't been in for almost a decade now.

"No, Austin, I'll be fine in Adam's old room, too."

Austin was relieved at the quick smile that graced his brother's mouth.

"Just as long as you didn't leave my suitcase in the middle of the floor for me to trip over."

"Now would I do that?" Austin asked with feigned innocence.

"Yes, you would. And then stand in the doorway and laugh your head off when I fell over it."

"I didn't. Not this time, anyway." He punctuated his words with a poke to Auggie's chest. "Suitcase is on the foot of the bed on the left hand side." With that, he headed down the stairs. He called up from the bottom of the steps. "I'll see you tomorrow. Jenna and I will be over for our usual Saturday night dinner." Austin paused for a few moments at the bottom of the stairs and watched his brother enter the room; he listened carefully to see if his brother was struggling with getting oriented to the room. The simple fact that his brother had to orient himself to a room in the house he grew up with made Austin sad. The only thing he heard was the springs on the bed depressing as Auggie sat down on it. He had a sudden mental image of Auggie sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. Austin sighed and then turned to head down the hallway to the back of the house.

On his way out, Austin stopped for a few minutes in the kitchen to give his mother a hug and a kiss in passing. He couldn't quite read the emotion in his mother clearly – there was joy there, but there was also an undercurrent of something else. That something else was what Austin couldn't quite decipher. It almost read as fear; but what his mother had to be afraid of he could not fathom.

As he drove to his home in nearby Highland Park, Austin rehearsed what he was going to tell his wife about the Auggie that he'd picked up at the airport. He was happy to have his best friend home again, and out of harm's way, but no matter how calm and confident Auggie seemed, Austin feared there was a time-bomb somewhere under all that 'togetherness' that could explode at any minute and Austin wasn't at all sure what to do if that happened. It was bound to be ugly if it happened.

**Saturday before Labor Day**

Late afternoon Austin gathered his small family and headed over to his parent's home for their weekly visit. Saturday evening was his day; Sunday after church was Adam's turn and Wednesday was Anthony's evening. This week there was an added bonus to the visit – his brother was home. He'd volunteered to pick him up at O'Hare on Friday when his parents, for some unknown reason, seemed to hesitate about being the ones to do so. Auggie might have had been seriously injured by a bomb blast while he was serving in Iraq, but he was still Auggie underneath it all.

As he drove the short distance from his home in Highland Park to his parent's home in neighboring Glencoe, Austin reflected on the time he had flown out to DC a few weeks ago to help Auggie with some legal things and the disposal of some personal possessions that he, as a now blind man, no longer had need of. Austin had been more than willing to spend a few days with his brother. He'd seen how Auggie was dealing with the blindness – mostly well, or at least giving that impression – but there had been a few low moments while Austin had been there; moments when his brother'd been highly frustrated and his temper had flared. Austin didn't quite know what to do for his brother in those circumstances; when they'd been kids together; they'd always known how to make the other one feel better when things hadn't gone quite right. Now, Austin was at a loss as to how to comfort and support his younger brother; or even if that comfort and support would be accepted.

When they arrived at his parent's house, rather than pull in to the drive and park by the backdoor like he had the day before, Austin parked on the street in front of the house. The three of them walked up the walkway and then rang the doorbell; even after almost five years of marriage when they came for these sorts of gatherings at the house Jenna liked to be a bit more formal about entering the house and Austin indulged her. He was a bit surprised when Auggie opened the door.

"The Andersons, I hope," Auggie said as he stood just off to the side of the open door. "If it's not my brother and his family I've just made a huge faux pas."

"No, it's us," Jenna said as she crossed the threshold to embrace her brother-in-law.

"Jenna, so good to see you again," Auggie gushed as he embraced his sister-in-law. "Whoa! Austin, my man, why didn't you tell me that you and your lovely bride were expecting again? When are you due, Jenna?" Auggie asked as he placed a hand on Jenna's very large baby bump.

"I'm supposedly due in two weeks," Jenna replied proudly. "It can't happen soon enough for me. This pregnancy has been so much different from Summer's."

"We were so busy when I was out, that it just never came up. Sorry, honey," Austin whispered apologetically to his wife to stave off the disapproving look he knew was possible.

"Boy? Another girl?" Auggie queried of his sister-in-law.

"Another girl we think. Autumn Grace if it is," Jenna quickly replied.

"And where is Summer Dawn?" Auggie asked.

"I'm right here," a small voice in front of him said indignantly. "Can't you see me?"

Auggie squatted down, "No, Miss Summer, I can't. My eyes are broken."

"What did we talk about in the car over here to Nana's?" Austin said to his three-year-old daughter. In the back of his mind, Austin wondered how his daughter's bluntness was going to affect his brother; he was relieved to see that Auggie seemed to be taking the questions in stride.

"I don't 'member," the little girl said shyly.

Austin squatted down to his daughter's level. "Remember we told you that we were going to meet a man who couldn't see and we needed to be careful not to get in his way when he was walking 'cause he might step on us?"

"Yes, daddy. I 'member now. Do you need a Band-Aid for your eyes? Daddy said your eyes got an owie."

For a moment, Austin couldn't quite read his brother's reaction to the little girl's questions. Then he saw the flicker of an amused grin from Auggie.

"No, Summer, I don't need a Band-Aid for my eyes. The owie happened a while ago and they don't hurt anymore. They just don't work now."

"Come on here with Nana. Let's go into the kitchen," Abigail said to Summer as she came in to the foyer from the main hallway. The older women and the child headed down the hallway to the back of the house.

"Wow, she's got quite the way with words for a three-year-old! Last time I saw her she was just a toddler; seems she's quite the young lady now."

"We were worried that she'd never learn to talk and now we have a hard time getting her to stop," Austin related.

"Takes after her mom in that respect," Auggie teased as he nudged Jenna in the arm with his own.

"Oh," Jenna groaned. "Baby just kicked me in the rib. I'm heading off to make sure Summer doesn't annoy her Nana too much." She headed off down the hallway to the back of the house, too. Austin and Auggie trailed along behind her into the kitchen.

As they entered, the back of the house Austin greeted his slightly older brother Alan; he was surprised to see Alan and wondered when he'd arrived, no one had informed him that Alan had been granted leave to come home for the holiday. After he'd briefly caught up with Alan and their dad, Austin ventured into the kitchen to properly greet his mother. Then for the next half-an-hour or so, the family milled around between the family room and the kitchen as they helped, or occasionally hindered, Abigail in the preparation of the meal. Jenna finished off the salads, Alfred uncorked the wine, and Austin fiddled with making garlic bread out of the loaf of Italian bread his mother had made earlier that day. All the while Abigail put the final additions on the sauce and cooked the pasta. Auggie, Alan, and three-year-old Summer finished setting the table in the dining room. Austin was certain that his brother was fully aware that spaghetti was on the menu for the evening – one could not help but notice the aroma of Abigail's sauce that wafted through the house – and was at first surprised at Auggie's comment as their mother drained the spaghetti noodles.

"Spaghetti, Mom? You really are challenging me this weekend, huh?" The tone of Auggie's voice was serious, but Austin noticed the faintest glint of humor on his brother's face.

"I'm sorry, August. I didn't think when Summer said that she wanted it for dinner," Abigail said with alarm.

"It's okay, Mom. I can deal with spaghetti. Anyway I think that I can." A broad grin suddenly lit up Auggie's face. "You still got those lobster bibs hanging around? I probably could use one of them."

With a glint of devilishness in his eye, Alan rummaged in one of the kitchen drawers. "Here," he said as he step up behind Auggie and tied one of the aforementioned lobster bibs around Auggie's neck.

Auggie's hands quickly raised and he investigated the object around his neck and falling to his waist. An even broader grin rapidly lit up his brother's features. "Thanks, Alan. Now with a towel for my lap, I won't need to change my clothes after dinner. Wouldn't want Summer to show me up."

From the opening to the family room Austin heard laughter. He turned slightly to see his wife with one hand holding her baby bump and the other across her mouth as she tried to stifle her amused laughter. Moments later, when her laughter had died down, Jenna asked, "Auggie, what on earth are you doing?"

"Getting ready for dinner. Don't want your daughter to show up the blind man by having cleaner clothes after spaghetti," Auggie quickly, and lightly, retorted.

"August! Would you stop with the jokes already?" Austin looked quickly from his mirthful brother to his mother. Their mother was not laughing at the antics of her sons and from the tone of her voice and the stern look on her face, it was clear that their mother was upset.

Austin couldn't help but be slightly upset with Auggie's self-depreciating antics. He'd never taken himself too seriously, but self-depreciation had never been his style. _Maybe because he'd never had a reason to be_, Austin considered.

**Sunday. The day before Labor Day**

"Augs, get it in gear. We'll miss the first pitch at this rate." Austin shouted through the closed guest room door. Behind the door he could hear the movements of his brother, Auggie. Finally, the movements seemed to be nearing the door. "'Bout damn time," Austin chided as Auggie opened the door.

"Austin, I'm really not so sure about –" Auggie began but Austin didn't want to hear his brother's reservations about the adventure they were about to embark upon. He had gone to a great deal of trouble and called in a couple of major favors to get the tickets to this afternoon's ballgame. Yeah, it wasn't the family's favorite team – the Chicago Cubs – they were heading off to see play, but watching the Chicago White Sox wasn't that horrible a way to spend the afternoon. In addition, he'd called the stadium to see what sort of accommodations they might have to make the game more accessible to their blind fans. There was absolutely no reason that his recently blinded brother couldn't enjoy the game along with the rest of their brothers and father.

"Shut up, Augs. You're coming with us and that's final. There's five of us to watch over you. They have special radios for their visually impaired fans, too," Austin patiently explained.

Austin was happy to see the White Sox fan jersey that he'd bought and brought for everyone to wear to the game adorning his brother. At least he'd gone that far in getting ready for the game. That was a start. It had taken a bit of firmness to even get Auggie – a diehard Cubs fan – to acquiesce to wearing a Sox jersey, but Austin hoped that that was going to be the hardest part of making the day enjoyable to his brother. If their brother Anthony didn't deliberately make a scene with Auggie, they might have a chance at a good afternoon at the ballgame. Austin could only hope that Anthony would behave.

A few minutes later Austin and Auggie trundled down the stairs and out to the drive where everyone else was already waiting in Adam's Mercedes SUV. Austin led Auggie to the front passenger seat and then settled himself into the seat right behind him. Auggie firmly clasped his cane in his left hand as he reached out to close the car door with his right.

A bit over an hour later they were at US Cellular Field and Auggie was gripping Austin's arm, cane held diagonally in front of him, as they worked their way through the throng of White Sox's fans. Alan followed slightly behind with the special radio that they'd picked up at the Guest Relations Booth on the main concourse.

"Stairs going down," Austin soon proclaimed as he warned Auggie about the long flight of stairs leading to their seats. At the bottom of the flight of stairs, Austin told Auggie, "We're here, Augs," as he stepped into the row to the left. "We've got these three seats right here on the end and the three right behind them." He placed Auggie's left hand on the back of the middle seat of the three as Alan slipped past them to take the other seat. As he took his seat, Austin quietly observed Auggie familiarizing himself with the seat and the location by slightly leaning forward and sweeping the space before him with his hands. Those motions just didn't seem right from his brother. Not right at all. Damn Iraq.

"What's in front of us?" Auggie asked after he'd settled himself back into the center seat.

"Top of the dugout; we've got first row seats," Austin said proudly. "Only the best for you, Augs."

"Even though I can't exactly appreciate what's happening on the field?"

Was that a hint of sadness he heard in his brother's voice? Austin guessed his brother had a right to a bit of that, but he wanted that to be the last of that he heard today. "Especially because of that," Austin began. "Down here you can be a part of the excitement of the game, even if you can't see what's going on out on the field."

"That's what this is for," Alan said as he placed the special radio against Auggie's chest. Auggie brought his hands up, grasped the small device, and examined it. Finally, he clipped it onto his belt and placed the earpiece into his ear. "How does this thing work?" he asked Austin.

"According to the lady that I talked with when I was getting the tickets, it broadcasts the same play-by-play that the radio listeners get, but without the time lag. It's real time so you can know what we're groaning or cheering about when we do and not 5 seconds later."

"Cool!" Auggie exclaimed.

The sudden change in his brother's mood from almost despair to joy hearten Austin. He so wanted this outing with his brother to go smoothly; to show his brother that he could still enjoy time with his brothers like they always had; that just because he was now blind he couldn't be a part of the family fun.

For an hour or so, Auggie seemed to fully enjoy the game and the camaraderie of his brothers and father. Along with the rest of them Auggie had enjoyed several beers, a hot dog and a bag of popcorn. Just after a new inning began Auggie leaned toward Austin and whispered, "Austin, I got to pee. Could you ...?"

Without a second thought, Austin rose from his aisle seat and touched Auggie's shoulder. Auggie rose, shook his cane out, and then took his brother's arm. As they started up the stairs Austin asked, "Did you count the steps when you went down?"

"Nope. Did you?" Auggie retorted playfully.

"Last step," Austin said shortly. "Looks like there's a line for the restroom."

"I'm okay with that."

Almost as soon as Austin and Auggie returned to their seats, Anthony began to relate the action on field since they'd left to Austin. "… should have seen that homer by Konerko. Too bad the bases weren't loaded. Then Ramirez and Swisher both sent fly balls to right field. …"

"No need for the play-by-play, Tony. Augs kept me abreast of the play while we were takin' care of business. He kept the rest of the men's room entertained, too." As Austin spoke, he could see Anthony begin to bristle; he waited for the inevitable, but scowled at Anthony as if daring him to say something.

"Well, I knew there was some reason you insisted on bringing him along." Anthony's words dripped with disapproval.

Austin's scowl turned into a look of annoyance. Even though he should not have been surprised, he did not like either the tone or the words that sprouted from his brother's mouth.

"What? Don't look at me like that. You know that I didn't think it was a wonderful idea to bring August with us," Anthony quickly retorted.

"He should be safe back at the house," Adam added.

"Adam, Anthony, that's quite enough." Alfred reprimanded his two oldest sons in his stern 'I'm the father here' voice.

The verbal exchanges took place so fast that Austin didn't have time to voice his own displeasure with his oldest brothers' attitudes. He glanced at Auggie and instantly recognized his brother's posture. Auggie was pissed and quite possible on the verge of doing something rash – perhaps even foolhardy.

As Adam and Anthony offered apologies – apologies that Austin knew were ignored – Auggie ceased breaking down his cane, unfurled it, and stood. Austin stood in Auggie's path but Auggie pushed past his brother and violently shook off Austin's restraining hand. Austin let him go and prepared to follow his brother. Perhaps somewhere less public and away from the offending brothers, he might be able to talk some sense into this unusually petulant Auggie. Austin turned, and waited to see exactly what Auggie was going to do. With a mixture of pride and astonishment, Austin watched as Auggie began to climb the stairs he'd descended just a few minutes before.

"Where are you going?" Adam asked as Auggie passed him; he looked alarmed.

"Home. Where I'm safe," Auggie retorted vehemently; determinedly.

"How …?"

"Watch me!" Cane held straight down and lightly touching each stair riser in turn, Auggie climbed the stairs.

Once Auggie was a few steps up from their seats, Adam rose and mouthed – 'Let him go. I'll take care of this.' He put out a hand as a signal to both Austin and Anthony to stay behind.

Austin watched his brothers go up the stairs and onto the main concourse of the stadium before he returned to his seat and tried to follow the play on the field before him. He couldn't help but worry about his younger brother; Auggie was determined and resourceful, but _how would a blind man fare alone in a place like US Cellular Stadium? Would Adam, peacemaker that he was, be able to talk sense into a bullheaded Auggie? _Austin had a head full of questions; and a strong desire to slug his older brother, Anthony. The only thing that prevented that was his father's stern look coupled with the concern that Alfred could not disguise.

About fifteen minutes later Adam was back with Auggie and Austin could not help but notice the look of resignation that Auggie wore. As Adam showed Auggie to his seat their father asked, "Where did you catch up with him?"

As Auggie settled into his seat and began collapsing his cane again, Adam returned to his seat and said, "At the customer service booth; he was going to have them get him a cab home."

Austin wasn't quite sure that what Adam just said was the whole truth, but he looked at his younger brother with a newfound pride. "Good one, Augs," Austin said patting Auggie's back. "You showed them that you're not the helpless man they took you for."

A smug little smile worked its way across Auggie's features and Austin knew that his brother had gotten away with something. What that something was Austin figured that he'd never find out, but he was just happy that he'd gotten away with whatever it was.

For the rest of the game, and on the trip home, Auggie seemed fine; almost content. Austin was pleased with that. He'd never liked to see his brother hurting; there'd been enough of that when they were kids.

**Labor Day**

Mid-morning on Monday morning Austin carried their family's contribution to the traditional Labor Day get-together at his parent's home out to the car. As she followed her father out to the car, his three-year-old daughter, Summer, carried on one arm a small canvas tote with the dips her mother had made earlier that morning for the veggie tray that her father had just placed in the back of the car, and a small pink backpack with her toys for the day on the other. The little girl put both the canvas tote and her backpack on the floor of the backseat and climbed up into her car seat. As Austin buckled his daughter in to her seat, his very pregnant wife waddled to the car and settled herself in the passenger seat. Like his wife, Austin couldn't wait for this pregnancy to be over; she was so uncomfortable and he hated to see her that way.

As they drove the few minutes to the Anderson home in Glencoe Austin and Jenna talked about normal husband and wife stuff. Talk of Austin's brothers, especially his youngest, was conspicuously absent; they'd talked that subject to death the evening before after Austin had returned from the ballgame. Jenna had echoed her husband's displeasure with his brother Anthony; and a bit with Adam, but she had been impressed with Auggie's fortitude in striking off on his own, even if Adam had returned him to the fold rather than securing and taking a cab back to Glencoe.

This time when Austin arrived at his parent's home, he pulled in to the driveway rather than park on the street. He was pleased to see that Adams's SUV was already parked in front of the garage doors; he pulled in beside his brother's vehicle leaving the parking pad to one side for Anthony if he didn't park on the street. Almost as soon as he'd put the transmission in park and turned off the ignition his daughter had her restraints undone and was clamoring for one of her parents to open the car door so she could go find her PopPop. All the grandchildren adored their grandfather, and Summer was no different from those who had been born before her.

Even before he'd nestled the relish and veggie tray and its dips into the bed of ice in the center of the table on the back deck, Austin scanned the back yard of his parent's house to see who was where – Adam and Alan were engaged in conversation at the far end of the patio; sister-in-law Olivia and his mother were enjoying a conversation with his nieces Alexis and Megan on the deck; his father was near the grills and greeting his youngest granddaughter enthusiastically. Austin had to look for a bit before he found Auggie and he wasn't exactly pleased with where he found his brother; Auggie was secluded from the rest of the family on the swing under their mother's rose arbor. Auggie rarely went to that place unless he was upset or troubled. After sighing softly Austin headed toward where his brother sat on the swing.

"Hey, Augs," Austin said softly when he was a few feet from his brother. "Jenna and I are here again. What's up?"

"Hey, Austin," Auggie said while shrugging his shoulders. "I heard your daughter greeting Dad. So I knew you were here. You didn't have to wander all the way out here to tell me that."

"What's wrong, Augs?"

"You know what's wrong, Austin. I don't want to be here."

"On what level do you mean that?" A slight fear flickered though Austin. Even though he'd tried to cover it up when he was with others, Austin had seen flickers of despondency in his brother when he'd been with him a few weeks ago.

"Here. Today. Want to be back at home in DC. I'm okay the other way."

"Okay," Austin replied silently relieved to hear that. When they'd been together a few weeks ago, Austin had the feeling that his brother just plain didn't want to be on this earth anymore. He was pleased at his brother's statement. However, he also knew when his brother wanted to be left alone. This seemed to be one of those times. "Want a beer or anything?"

"Nah. I'm good," Auggie said noncommittally as he set the swing in motion. That was Austin's clue to head back toward the house.

As he ambled back toward the patio, Austin looked back over his shoulder at Auggie sitting alone. He shook his head slightly and headed toward where Adam and Alan sat. After greeting his brothers, Austin settled onto the outdoor sofa beside his oldest brother.

"I see you didn't get anywhere with him either," Adam said as Austin got situated. "He barely spoke to Livvie, completely ignored me when we arrived a bit ago, just headed out to the swing."

"No. He didn't have much to say to me either, just acknowledged that he doesn't want to be here today. And indicated that he wanted to be alone so I left."

"I thought yesterday had gone so well, and he was good with reconnecting with his family. I wonder what happened between then and now?" Alan queried as he shook his head.

"I fear that Tony happened," Adam responded.

The brothers nodded in agreement.

For the next hour or so, Austin didn't actively keep track of his younger brother; helping his uncomfortably pregnant wife keep up with an active three-year-old kept him busy. He was aware that Adam's wife Olivia had fixed Auggie a plate and that she and Adam had sat down to eat with him; that had seemed to go well and Auggie seemed to have forgiven Adam for his statement the day before. After the meal, Auggie shifted from one cluster of family members to another for a bit. Austin thought that Auggie seemed to be trying to reconnect with the family; even though he couldn't hear most of what was said, Austin noted that Auggie smiled often and occasionally even laughed. He was glad to see his brother relaxed and in a good mood for the moment. Nevertheless, the unusual fact that Auggie never seemed to be without a bottle of beer somewhat troubled him; that wasn't the Auggie he'd grown up with.

Auggie shifted location once again and, after calling out to locate his brother, came to sit with Austin a fresh bottle of beer in his hand. Their conversation was unremarkable, boringly familiar, until the sound of a motorcycle going by on the street invaded the gathering. That was not an unusual occurrence, but Austin noted Auggie's reaction to it: he shut his eyes and clenched both his fists and his jaw as he sighed deeply. A moment later, Auggie relaxed, but a troubled look remained on his face for a few more seconds.

"Augs?" Austin asked in a subdued tone.

"Let it be, Austin," Auggie responded sharply.

"Okay, but I can tell the sound of the bike dredged something up. You'd rather be riding, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah. I would. But never again. There. Satisfied?" Auggie glared in his brother's direction before taking a long pull on the beer in his hand.

"No. Not satisfied at all. Just acknowledging that we all understand that some things are going to be harder than others, not that any of it is easy."

"Drop it, bro. You haven't a clue what it's like," Auggie replied as he stood and began moving toward the middle of the yard.

The response that Austin wanted to deliver died on his lips as Auggie stumbled a bit. He wondered if his brother's difficulty stemmed more from the blindness or simply from the amount of beer he'd drunk. Finally Auggie located the swing – a sure sign Austin thought that his brother was seriously stressed – and took a seat. As soon as he'd settled into the seat he took another long drink from the half-empty bottle of beer.

Austin checked on the location of his wife and daughter, smiled a bit when he saw them cuddled together on one of the shaded patio sofas; Summer appeared to be napping. With one last glance at his youngest brother sipping on his beer and swinging ever-so-slightly on the garden swing, Austin turned his back on Auggie and headed toward the porch where Adam and Olivia sat. He'd barely settled into a seat when he saw Auggie rise from the swing and head up the brick-edged pathway toward the house. With slight concern Austin flinched as Auggie veered from the center of the path; a heartbeat later Auggie stumbled on the pathway and nearly lost his balance. Austin's level of concern grew as Anthony – the closest person to Auggie – turned his attention from his own young son to Auggie. For Austin the next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion – he could not quite believe his eyes; and ears.

Anthony left his son's side, rushed to his brother, and reached out to steady him. "There you go now, bro. Take my arm and I'll get you safely where you're heading. Where are you heading?"

Violently Auggie shook his brother's hand from his arm and snapped, "I'm fine. I don't need yours or anyone's help to get to the beer cooler."

"You're drunk," Anthony observed with an air of disgust.

"Maybe I am. So what? I'm sure as hell not driving so what does it matter? Now get out of my way."

Austin could not believe the anger in Auggie's voice. Nor could he believe that Anthony stood firm as his brother tried to push past him. Once again, Auggie stumbled when Anthony didn't move out of his way; and once again, Anthony reached out to steady his youngest brother. What happened next surprised Austin although it should not have; Auggie grabbed Anthony's arm and spun him around with ease and so fast it was apparent that even Anthony was taken by surprise. Auggie pinned Anthony's arm behind him with one arm and put him in a chokehold with the other.

Abigail, shaking her head a bit, rose from where she had been seated with her middle son, Alan, and rushed toward where her youngest son had her second born in a head lock. "August let Tony go. He meant you no harm," she said calmly but firmly as she approached her fighting sons.

Austin watched as Auggie sighed and loosened his grip from around his brother's neck and then from his arm and as Anthony stepped away from his brother and flexed the shoulder and massaged the wrist that had been pinned behind his back. Austin wasn't at all sure if he felt sorry for his older brother or not – he should have known better than to touch Auggie. After Anthony's remark the day before, Austin could see why Auggie might be a bit touchy today where Anthony was concerned, but, instead of the anger that Anthony usually showed when his youngest brother had bested him, Austin only saw sadness on Anthony's face as he stepped away from Auggie. Austin turned his attention from Anthony to Auggie and was not at all surprised to see Auggie standing with his fists firmly clenched at his side. That was a sure sign that he was still pissed. He wondered what, of the many things that he had to be angry about, Auggie was still upset about. _Maybe a good scuffle with Anthony would do Auggie a bit of good?_

Austin heard his mother ask Auggie, "August, can I help you back to the deck?"

He wasn't at all surprised when Auggie shook his head, "No, Mom. I can get there by myself. Just make sure I'm pointed in the right direction.

"August?" There was unmistakable concern in Abigail's tone.

"Mom. I'm fine. I know the yard. I'm capable of doing this. Please let me. Just point me in the right direction." Auggie was firm in his request.

With obvious displeasure, Abigail centered her youngest son on the walkway and stepped away from him. As Auggie began toward the house Austin felt uneasiness rise within him with each step his brother took; he was not at all surprised when Auggie stumbled into the bottom step of the stairs leading onto the deck. A loud 'Damn it!' exploded from Auggie as he collected himself and sat, with head in hands, on the stairs. Abigail rushed once again toward her youngest son.

Abigail spoke quietly enough that Austin couldn't hear what she was saying, but his brother's response could probably be heard in the next block. "No, Mom. I'm not okay. It's not going to be okay. It's never going to be okay. I'm blind – now and forever! I can deal with the blindness but I can't deal with the pity or the loss of my independence. If I want help, I'll ask for it. Coming here and expecting to be accepted was a huge mistake."

Austin looked at his extended family and noticed that he was not the only one cringing at Auggie's outburst toward the family matriarch. He wasn't sure whom he felt sorrier for – his mother, clearly anguished over her inability to console her youngest son; or the son who was still a boy in some ways who had recently lost so much.

After he finished his tirade, Auggie got up from where he sat, climbed the rest of the steps, and began crossing the deck toward the patio doors. When he heavily bumped into one of the patio chairs Auggie verbally exploded once again, "There. Everyone satisfied now? You've seen me stumble and fail."

Along with everyone else, Austin looked at Auggie in stunned silence. Even though he'd seen it building almost all weekend, Austin was a bit surprised at his brother's recent outbursts; he rose and began toward his brother but stopped when Alan looked at him and shook his head 'no'.

They all watched as Alan grabbed a couple of fresh beers from the cooler, and went after Auggie. Shortly after Alan entered the house, everyone could hear Auggie yelling at Alan. Austin was close enough that he could understand much of what Auggie was saying at the top of his lungs. It was clear that he was hostile and he wasn't at all surprised to hear scuffling from inside the house. If it was to be a fair fight, Austin knew that Alan, with his own combat training, could hold his own with Auggie better than any of the brothers and he hoped that it was Alan who had come out on top of that. Two military men, even if at least one of them was drunk, going at each other was sobering. All of their skills and their mindset made them formidable; and Auggie had the extra training of the Special Forces. Even blind, he probably still had the edge over Alan.

Anthony calmed his son, assuring the child that his father was okay, and then moved to the far end of the patio where he joined his wife, Adam, and Olivia; Adam had one of his feet propped casually on the low glass-topped table. Austin crossed the deck and quietly settled into a patio chair beside his mother.

"You okay, Mom?" Austin asked as soon as he was comfortably enthroned in the seat across from his wife. "Auggie …"

His mother, her hand held by his father who sat on the settee beside her, cut him off before he could say anything more.

"I'm fine, Austin. Don't go ragging on your brother for how he spoke to me. He'll come and apologize to me in his own time. He has every right to be angry and if he needs to take some of it out on me, that's okay. And it sounds as if Alan has things under control in the house; or at least I hope he does. I didn't hear any furniture breaking, so that's good."

"Mom, how can you be so Zen about the way that your youngest son is acting right now?" Austin asked in disbelief. His mother was usually fairly calm and collected – it took a lot to ruffle her feathers – but normally she would never allow one of her boys to raise a voice to her; there'd always been consequences for disrespect.

"It hurts me to see him like that, yes, but he's got to work through it. If he needs to lash out, let it be here, with us. When he got hurt, we all got hurt to some degree. For a little while, we need to cut him a bit of slack. Alan's not going to cut him much, but I think he might get through to Auggie. I hope so anyway," Abigail responded.

"Yeah," Alfred seemed to agree. "At least it's a bit quieter in there now. As military men, and as leaders, they can talk to each other in ways and with language that would not be appropriate from the rest of us."

"You should know, Pop," Jenna added with a mischievous grin.

Alfred smiled self-consciously. "Yeah, but that was a long time ago; the culture has probably changed from when I was in the service. And I doubt that Auggie would listen to me like he would Alan. Like Mother said, we're all hurting about what happened, and I'm not sure any of us know how to deal with it, or with Auggie."

"Yeah," Austin agreed. It was all true. "I know I sure don't know how to relate to my brother right now. I've been with him more than just about anyone has and even I'm having a hard time. He's still Auggie, still my brother, but he's not. And I don't know how to explain it better than that."

"Alan's come out on to the deck," Jenna remarked quietly. "Auggie's right behind him looking very contrite. Neither of them looks too beat up, so the scuffle wasn't too hairy."

Austin turned in his seat to observe his brothers. Jenna was right, neither man's appearance was that disheveled; Alan looked a bit smug and Auggie – Auggie looked defeated. After a brief pause Auggie raised his head said, contritely, "I'm sorry." Austin wondered if there was a specific person he was apologizing to, or if it was a global one. "It's okay, bro," he said. Jenna remarked something similar.

"Tony?" Auggie said turning his head as if searching for his brother.

After a brief pause Anthony responded, "I'm down here on the patio, Auggie."

Auggie turned his body toward the sound of his brother's voice, but didn't make a move toward the steps. "Are you okay? I mean … I didn't hurt you too bad when I …" his voice trailed off then began again, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I took your grabbing me wrong. You were just trying to help. I know that now."

"I'm fine Auggie. You didn't hurt me too much. Not as much as you could have. Just please don't do it again." Anthony paused then added, "I'd hate to have to bring you up on assault charges." He laughed, and then, after a moment's pause, so did Auggie. Austin smiled at the interaction between his brothers; but he had little doubt that Anthony, brotherly bonds aside, would levy assault charges against Auggie if he thought he could get away with it.

Austin observed as Auggie; once he'd grabbed a cold bottle of beer from the cooler, make his way back to the swing. He thought that another beer was the last thing his brother needed and crossed the patio to join Auggie at the swing.

"You really think another beer is a good idea?" Austin asked as he settled into a patio chair across from his brother.

Auggie looked toward the sound of his brother's voice, "I don't know if it is or not, but I'm going to drink it," he answered with a bit of belligerence.

"Your funeral. I guess your talk with Alan didn't change anything?"

"He pointed out a few things; I pointed out a few things and we came to an agreement. I said I'm sorry – and I am – but some things just can't happen. At least not right now."

* * *

**Comments and reactions welcomed. Thanks for reading.**


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